Mehrauli murder case: Cops should have acted swiftly on Shraddha Walkar's complaint against Aftab Poonawala in 2020, say ex-police officers

Retired Maharashtra Police officers on Thursday said the police personnel in Palghar district should have taken serious cognisance of the complaint lodged in 2020 by Shraddha Walkar in which she accused her livein partner Aaftab Poonawala of trying to kill her and that she feared he would cut her into piecesThey said that after her complaint the local police should have recorded her statement registered an offence against the accused and probed the matter Some others however said that since Walkar had withdrawn her complaint later the police cannot be blamed as they could not do much after thatIn May this year Walkar 27 was allegedly murdered by Poonawala in Delhi He allegedly strangled Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhis Mehrauli area before dumping them across the city over several days past midnightOn Wednesday the police said that Walkar had submitted a complaint letter to Tulinj police station at Vasai in Palghar in November 2020 alleging that Poonawala was trying to kill her They also said that when the local police approached Walkar she withdrew the complaint saying the issues between her and Poonawala were resolved Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis however said the state government would probe why action was not taken by the police on Walkars complaintAlso Read Shraddha Walkar murder Second session of polygraph test on Aftab beginsFormer Additional Director General of Police ADG Prem Krishan Jain said As the woman Walkar had approached the Tulinj police with a handwritten complaint they could have recorded her statement and registered an FIR against her livein partner PoonawalaIt was the polices duty to register an offence and investigate it according to the law he saidWalkar withdrew her complaint 20 days later which itself indicates she was under pressure he said adding it should be investigated for what reasons the police did not act on her complaint initiallyFormer Maharashtra Director General of Police DGP D Sivanandhan said the safety of women must be the priority of the policeThey should take serious cognisance of the complaints lodged by women and take appropriate action he saidIn Walkars complaint given to the Tulinj police station in 2020 against Poonawala police could have summoned him and taken action against him he saidBut as it is reported that Walkar herself told the police that the issues between her and her partner were resolved and that she did not want to pursue the complaint then it is not a mistake of the police he saidIf the complainant is not firm then police cant do anything in such cases as Walkar and Poonawala were in a relationship Sivanandhan said adding that there was no legal provision to take action if the complaint is withdrawnIf any woman approaches the police with the complaint then they should not send her back emptyhanded They should take serious cognisance of it and send a police personnel with her to enquire about the case former state DGP Praveen Dixit saidIn such cases police should swing into action accompany the complainant conduct an inquiry on the spot and take action immediately he said adding that the judiciary should not take objection for the inquiry made by the police though it is noncognisable NC since such complaints are related to domestic violenceThe government should also issue directions that in all the complaints of domestic violence police personnel be sent to the spot within an hour Dixit saidIn Walkars case a police sub inspector called her twothree times after receiving her complaint application but by the time she was admitted to a hospital The authorities of the hospital also did not inform the police about her he saidThe police went to her place three weeks later but by that time Poonawalas parents assured her that their son would marry her following which she withdrew the complaint Women should not tolerate any kind of domestic violence he saidWalkar was a native of Vasai town in Maharashtras Palghar districtIn her complaint to Tulinj police in 2020 Walkar had alleged Poonawala has been abusing me and beating me upToday he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scares and blackmails me that he will kill me cut me up in pieces and throw me anyway Its been six months he has been hitting me But I did not have the guts to go to police because he would threaten to kill meHis parents are aware that he beats me and that he tried to kill me she had said in the complaint letterThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever