Shraddha Walkar’s father passes away in Vasai under mysterious circumstances

The father of Shraddha Walkar who was brutally murdered and dismembered by her livein partner Aftab Poonawala in Delhirsquos Mehrauli area in May 2022 passed away under mysterious circumstances in Vasai early this morningVikas Walkar had been residing in Vasai with his son According to officials his health suddenly deteriorated in the early hours prompting his son to rush him to a hospital where doctors declared him deadSpeaking to MidDay Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police Pournima ChouguleShringi stated He apparently died of cardiac arrest Since no Medico Legal Case MLC document was prepared the Vasai police have ordered a postmortem A detailed investigation is underwayVasai police have initiated a thorough probe into the circumstances surrounding his deathVikas Walkar had been fighting for justice for his daughter whose last rites are yet to be conducted The remains of Shraddhamdashbones collected from the Mehrauli forest by the Delhi Policemdashhave yet to be handed over to her familyIn his daughters memory he had established the Shraddha Walkar Charitable Trust last year The organisation focuses on womens safety and provides pro bono legal aid to underprivileged families seeking justiceCharitable trust opened in Shraddha Walkarrsquos name to operate in Maharashtra DelhiA charitable trust has been opened in the name ofShraddha Walkar the Vasaibased woman who was hacked into 35 pieces by her livein partner Aftab Poonawala in Delhirsquos Mehrauli area on May 2022 The Shraddha Walkar Charitable Trust is dedicated to advancing the cause of womenrsquos safety and aims to provide pro bono legal support to underprivileged families seeking justiceldquoWe have been often coming across new cases of crimes against women in IndiaWomenrsquos safetyis a prime concern in our country where families can bear the legal expenditure The aggrieved families often lose zeal and enthusiasm to fight against the system and eventually the accused is acquitted despite committing gruesome crimes The conviction rate in crimes against women is very low So the main purpose of this charitable trust is to provide legal as well as financial support to the aggrieved familiesrdquo said Advocate Seema Kushwaha who has been fighting a legal battle in a Delhi court to seek justice for Shraddha WalkarVikas Walkar the bereaved father of Shraddha said ldquoWe will be visiting schools and colleges to spread awareness among students about womens safety This charitable trust will help underprivileged families to ensure that justice is not denied to them We will be operating fromVasai Delhi and Pune but soon we will be expanding our wingsrdquoLong waitIt has been more than two years since Shraddha was killed by Poonawala who stored her remains in a refrigerator at his rented accommodation in Mehrauli Her last rites are yet to be conducted by Vikas who has vowed to cremate her remains only after her boyfriend is hangedldquoThough I had been seeking the bones from theDelhipolice to conduct her last rites within a year I could not obtain them Now I have vowed to conduct her last rites only after the court awards her killer the death sentencerdquo Vikas told middayldquoThough I have been receiving tremendous pressure from family members and relatives to complete her last rites Shraddharsquos soul will rest in peace only if the court announces the death sentence to Aftab Poonawala I am desperately waiting for the final verdictrdquo Vikas addedPoonawala would get up early in the morning to dispose of the body parts in a nearby jungle area After an extensive search in the jungle Delhi police managed to discover only 13 pieces of Shraddharsquos bones found scattered in MehrauliThere are a total of 212 witnesses in the case according to the charge sheets said Kushwaha who was also in Vasai during the opening ceremony of the charitable trust on SundayldquoThe father of Shraddha Walkar decided to open the charitable trust so that her name can live on foreverrdquo she added90day delayVikas initially approached the Manikpur police in Vasai on August 15 2022 to report that Shraddha was missing but was turned away He then reached out to the deputy commissioner of police DCP and the divisional assistant commissioner of police ACP who instructed the Manikpur police to register a missing person report on October 6 2022 Despite this directive the report was only filed on October 12 Poonawala was eventually arrested on November 11 nearly 90 days after Vikas first contacted the policeThe Manikpur police claim to have called Poonawala for the first time for questioning on October 20 2022 CCTV footage dated October 18 2022 shows Poonawala walking in his Delhi neighbourhood early in the morning with two bags The police suspect he was carrying body parts in these bags to dispose of them in the forestThe unusual delay in addressing the murder gave Poonawala sufficient time to dispose of the remains