Poonawala used to beat, then apologise to Shraddha, her brother tells court
Shraddha WalkerAftab Amin Poonawala used to beat up Shraddha Walker and then apologise, persuading her to forgive the attack, her brother testified in a Delhi court on Thursday. He said this when the court began recording the testimonies of witnesses in the sensational murder trial, reported PTI.
Shraddha Walker was allegedly in a live-in relationship with the accused strangled Poonawala had claimed on May 18 last year that the alleged accused had dismembered her body, kept it in a refrigerator and disposed of the derelict pieces in the city over several days to evade the police and the public. Several of his body parts were later found in a nearby forest.
According to PTI, Sreejay Vikas Walker, who was presented by the public prosecutor as a prosecution witness before Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar, testified that his sister had left the house she lived in next to Poonawalla in Mumbai when her family advised her not to be in a relationship. with him
Shraddha rejects the advice, claiming that she is already 25 and “can make her own decisions”. He told the court that the two met while working at a call center in 2018-19.
“She (Shradha) said she wanted to be in a live-in relationship with Poonawalla. We tried to counsel her. However, it seems she was under the influence of the accused and left her home for a rented house. had gone. Naigaon (Mumbai), said Sreeje.
She told the court that about two weeks after Shraddha left home, she told her that Poonawalla would sometimes verbally fight and beat her.
“After every such incident, Poonawala would apologize to him for the fight and physical assault and he would forgive it and live with him. After my mother’s death, we tried to counsel him (again), But she didn’t give in. Poonawalla agreed to leave,” Sreeje said.
Later, the family lost contact with Shraddha as we felt that she was completely under the influence of the accused, he said. presented
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), witnesses are examined by the public prosecutor, and at the end of the examination-in-chief, the defense counsel represents the accused. , interrogates witnesses. Sreeje is the Examination-in-Chief of the prosecution.
On Thursday, the recording of the testimonies of the auto driver and the neighbor was completed. The court has adjourned the matter till July 12 for recording the statement of Shraddha Walker’s brother along with the cross-examination of the three witnesses.
Other prosecution witnesses will appear in court on July 17 and 18 to record their statements. The court on May 9 framed charges against Poonawalla under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (disappearance of evidence of crime) of the Indian Penal Code.
(Published with inputs from PTI)
