Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a high-level probe after it emerged that Shraddha Walkar had approached the Tulinj police station exactly two years ago following a bout of severe beating by Aftab Poonawala. Though she withdrew the complaint, her words—“he will cut me up in pieces”—proved prophetic. Fadnavis said she would be alive had the cops taken action on her letter.

He scares and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away. It has been six months that he has been beating me. I did not have the guts to go to police because he would threaten to kill me. His parents are aware that he beats me and that he tried to kill me. They also know about we are living together and they visit us on weekends. I lived with him till date as we were supposed to get married anytime soon and had the blessings of his family,” reads Walkar’s one-page complaint of November 23, 2020.