Delhi murder victim Shraddha Walkar’s father dies of heart attack in Mumbai

The 2022 Shraddha Walkar murder case in Delhi had sent shock waves across the nation with its gory details

Mumbai: Vikas Walkar, the father of Shraddha Walkar, who was allegedly murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawalla in Delhi in 2022, died due to a cardiac arrest in Mumbai’s Vasai on Sunday, said police.

The murder of Shraddha Walkar came to light on November 8, 2022, when the Mumbai Police approached the Delhi Police saying that her father, Vikas Walkar, had filed a missing complaint about his daughter.

The Shraddha Walkar murder case had sent shock waves across the nation with its gory details in which Poonawalla allegedly chopped her body into at least 35 pieces, stored them in a refrigerator for about three months, and dumped the body parts piece by piece in different parts of south Delhi.

According to officers from the Vasai police station, 59-year-old Vikas Walkar’s health suddenly deteriorated, prompting his son to rush him to a hospital in the early hours of Sunday, where doctors declared him dead.

Talking to HT a few months ago, he had said that he was still waiting for his daughter’s ashes while asserting that he was determined to get justice for her.

He had opened a trust last year in the name of his daughter, Shraddha Walkar Charitable Trust, to honour her memory. The organisation focuses on women’s safety and provides pro bono legal aid to underprivileged families seeking justice.

The Vasai police said that they are investigating the cause and circumstances of his death.

Poonawala, 30, and Walkar, 27 at the time of her death, originally from Vasai in suburban Mumbai, were in a relationship and had moved to Delhi in May 2022. They moved in together in a flat in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur Pahadi area. Both sets of parents were opposed to the match because Poonawala is a Muslim and Walkar was a Hindu, according to police and relatives. The couple’s family said they met sometime in 2019 while working at a call centre in Vasai. But Delhi Police said the two met on Bumble, a dating app, in early 2019.

The gory murder came to light on November 8, 2022, when the Mumbai Police approached the Delhi Police saying that Shraddha Walkar’s father had filed a missing complaint about his daughter.

During their probe, Mumbai Police traced the couple’s last location to the Mehrauli police station area in Delhi. “We summoned Poonawala for investigation. Initially, he said Shraddha had left him after a fight, but later confessed to the crime. He also led us to the places where he had disposed of the body parts,” said additional deputy commissioner of police (south), Ankit Chauhan.

Poonawala was arrested on November 12, 2022, and the Delhi police filed a 6,629-page charge sheet detailing the crime in January 2023.