Mumbai SIT to probe police action on Shraddha Walkar's SOS letter, political pressure

Mumbai, Dec 20: Taking strong cognisance, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that an investigation will be conducted to determine as to what police action was taken in response to a complaint made by Shraddha Walkar against Aftab Amin Poonawala in November 2020.

Talking to reporters in the state legislature complex, Fadnavis said there was a ''feeling'' in the House regarding the Shraddha Walkar case that instances of ''love jihad'' are seen at a large scale in the state.

'Love jihad' is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

"We have assured (the House) that different states have laws on love jihad and we will study them. Based on it, our government will take an appropriate decision so that no woman or girl suffers by any conspiracy," said Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio.

In the Assembly, he said there is a demand for a tough law on ''love jihad''.

Speaking in the House earlier in the day, Fadnavis said the state government is not opposed to inter-faith marriages. "But it has been realised over time that there is a design as part of a conspiracy. In some districts such marriages are taking place in big numbers," he said. BJP MLAs Atul Bhatkalkar and Ashish Shelar had raised the killing of Shraddha Walkar in the Lower House.

Talking about the complaint letter, Fadnavis said, "So far it has been found there wasn't political pressure on Shraddha Walkar to withdraw the complaint. We are investigating the matter."

"There was a month's gap between filing and withdrawing of complaint. We will probe what action did police take during that time," the Maharashtra deputy chief minister said on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Tulinj Police Station in Palghar attempted to clarify that they had gone to the couple's house to investigate after having received Walkar's letter in 2020. But she later withdrew her complaint and refused to register an FIR, police said.

Walker, in her complaint filed in 2020 stated that Aftab was beating her and even blackmailed her saying he would kill her and dismember her body.

"He scares and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away. It has been six months he has been beating me. I did not have the guts to go to the police because he would threaten to kill me.

The letter had claimed that Poonwala's parents were aware that he beat her up and that he attempted to kill her.

Fadnavis said the inter-faith committee, headed by a minister, will track and maintain records of inter-faith marriages, married couples, and also their families.

"When Shraddha Walkar's father said we didn't understand where to go and we could have saved her had someone facilitated a conversation with her. People do not know where to go in such a situation and the panel is (there) for facilitation," he had told the House.

Speaking to reporters in the state legislature complex, SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi said Walkar's case is not a love jihad issue as it is being painted now.

''Rather it was a social subject and of live-in relationship,'' he added. ''Anyone who is an adult can decide to live the way he/she wants. People are being misled by terming that incident as love Jihad,'' he said. Azmi alleged the interfaith marriage inspection committee is purposely formed to divide Hindus and Muslims.

A love story doomed from the start

Aftab and Shraddha met through a dating app Bumble in 2019 and later moved in together at a rented accommodation in Delhi's Chhattarpur area. Her parents were against the inter-faith relationship and had stopped talking to her after she decided to move to Delhi with him.

Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, and sawed her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his Mehrauli residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli, before dumping them across the city over several days in the dark of night.

Aftab was arrested on November 12 and sent to five-day police custody, which was further extended by five days on November 17. On November 22, he was sent to police custody for four days. The court on November 26, sent him to judicial custody for 13 days.