A 28-year-old Indian man who wanted to “silence” his 26-year-old girlfriend during a fight ended up strangling her, then chopping up her body into 35 pieces and hiding the parts in a fridge, police have revealed.
The gruesome murder has come to light after six months.
Aftab Ameen Poonawala, a food blogger and photographer allegedly strangled his live-in partner Shraddha Walker in May this year and cut her body into pieces that he later dumped into a forest near their apartment in Mehrauli in the south of the capital Delhi.
Police said that he used to venture out around 2 am on some nights with pieces of his girlfriend’s body to dispose of them. He allegedly spent two to three months dumping the pieces, the Indian Express reported. Police sources revealed he removed the intestines first so that they could decompose easily.
Poonawala has told the police he was inspired by the award-winning drama crime series “Dexter”. He has revealed that he wanted to “silence her” but ended up strangling her. He has told the police that he kept Walker’s body parts in small black polythene bags allegedly inspired by the show’s main character, vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C Hall.
There was an outpouring of grief and condolences for the Walker family as they grappled with the gory details of their daughter’s murder.
The accused got away with the murder for months. Police on Saturday finally arrested him and he has been sent to five days in police custody.
