Delhi Fridge Murder: Victim Was Hospitalised In 2020 For "Internal Injuries"

Shraddha Walkar, who was murdered by her live-in boyfriend Aftab Ameen Poonawala and chopped up into pieces, was hospitalised in Mumbai two years ago with internal injuries, investigations have revealed.

Shraddha Walkar, a 26-year-old call centre worker, was in a hospital in Vasai near Mumbai between December 3 and 6 in 2020. This is the latest marker of a deeply toxic and abusive relationship that ended in murder.

A photo shared by Shraddha's friend shows her with bruises on her nose, cheek and neck, but it is not clear whether it was taken when she was hospitalised.

Rahul Rai, her friend, said the photo was taken in 2020 when Shraddha went to the police to complain about being beaten by Aftab. “I took her to the police. He had attacked her two-three times. There was a deep mark on her neck, as if he had tried to strangle her. The police had persuaded Shraddha to go home, though she was terrified,” said Mr Rai.

When she was hospitalized that year in December, there were no visible injuries but a doctor said she had suffered severe back pain, trauma and “internal injuries”, suggesting a fall at home or violence.

“She had spondylosis and trauma. There was no external injury but only internal injuries,” said Shivprasad Shinde, the doctor who treated her at the Ozone multispeciality hospital.

“She never came back for follow-up treatment,” Dr Shinde told NDTV.

The hospital report listed “severe back pain, nausea, neck pain, difficulty in movement of neck, and tingling and numbness in lower limb”. The hospital had recommended screening of her back.

Shraddha's friends have told the police that she routinely suffered domestic violence.

Rajat Shukla, her friend from college, told NDTV about her SOS months before she was killed.

"She was physically abused. She told this to her best friend. Since we were a part of the same friend circle, we were informed about the same," Rajat Shukla told NDTV.

Shraddha met Aftab Poonawala, 28, on the dating app Bumble three years ago. They used to fight frequently.

On May 18, Aftab allegedly strangled Shraddha after a fight over expenses and chopped up her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge at his rented apartment in South Delhi's Chhatarpur.

He allegedly dumped the body parts in a nearby forest over 18 days, leaving home at 2 am every night.

Rajat Shukla said Aftab often assaulted Shraddha. "It started with some complications where beatings had begun. She shared it with her best friend. However, she continued to stay with him. She said that she wanted to leave him but she didn't," he said.

Mr Shukla, who met Shraddha in college in 2015, said she feared for her life. "She (Shraddha) asked her childhood friend to rescue her or else she would be found dead," he said.