"One year of my daughter's murder in May", Shraddha's father

NEW DELHI : Vijay Walkar, father of Shraddha Walkar, who was murdered by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawalla last year, on Monday said that one year of his daughter's murder will be completed in May but he has not been able to perform her last rites yet.

After attending a hearing in the Shraddha murder case in Saket Court, Shraddha's father said, "one year of my daughter's murder will be completed in May, and I have not been able to perform her last rites."

"I would perform the last rites after the accused is awarded the death sentence," he told ANI.

He also said that he is not in a position to perform the last rites as the body parts of her deceased daughter will be handed over to him only after the conclusion of the trial.

Vijay Walkar also said that he wants that the accused must be given a death sentence and the hearing should be conducted in a time-bound manner.

"We will be in a position to perform the last rites only after the conclusion of the trial. It is a question when it will be concluded and I would get the body parts of my daughter, he asked.

Advocate Seema Kushwaha, counsel for Vijay Walkar, said that the Nirbhaya case took seven years to reach its conclusion. This case should not take years to be concluded like the Nirbhaya case.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Police concluded its arguments on the charges against Aftab Amin Poonawala.

Aftab was produced in the Saket court. Vijay Walkar was also present during the hearing of the matter.

The counsel for Delhi Police submitted that she was taking counselling from doctors from the "Practo" app.

Audio-video recording of the online counselling was also played in the courtroom in the presence of Aftab. The recordings made Shraddha's father emotional.

In the recording, Shraddha was heard saying, "he will hunt me, find me, and will kill me."

In one of the recordings, she was also confessing to the doctor (counsellor) that one day Aftab grabbed her throat. "I was totally blacked out and was not able to breathe," Shraddha could be heard in the recording.

The matter has been listed on March 25 for further arguments in the matter.

Responding to this, Advocate Kushwaha said that in this manner the case would take years to be completed. "The hearing should be conducted in the time frame manner on daily basis," she added.

"I will move a petition in the Delhi High Court as discussed with the father of Shraddha," she said.

She also said Vijay Walkar came from Mumbai to attend the hearing.