In another successful bid for love jihad and a tragic turn of events for Hindus, a Muslim man reportedly murdered his live-in partner, a Hindu woman, chopping her body into 35 pieces and scattering them all over Delhi to escape the clutches of law. Police arrested the man, identified as Aaftab Poonawalla, yesterday, blowing the lid off a ‘missing’ case. Police said Aaftab strangled his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, 26, on 18 May after a fight.

During the quarrel, Shraddha was shouting, Aaftab told the police, and in order to silence her and make sure neighbours did not hear the commotion, Aaftab pressed Shraddha’s mouth, which choked her to death. He then chopped her body into 35 pieces with a saw.

Aaftab had bought a big-enough fridge to keep them. He left his house at 2 AM in the course of the next 18 days to dispose of the pieces across Delhi.

Shraddha and Aaftab worked at a call centre in Mumbai where they fell in love and moved in together, police said. However, as her family was against their relationship, the couple eloped and fled to Delhi where they began living in Mehrauli.

The Hindu family was aware of Shraddha’s whereabouts through social media platforms. When they noticed that the updates had stopped, her father visited Delhi to check in on her. When he failed to establish contact with her, he lodged a police complaint.

The police, acting on a tip-off, arrested Aaftab who confessed that he had killed Shraddha as she was putting pressure on him for marriage. The Muslim man confessed said the two would often fight over the issue and when things got out of hand, he killed her in May.

Sources in the police said Aaftab had first strangled Shraddha and then chopped up her body into multiple pieces before throwing them away one by one all over Delhi to escape suspicion.

The police have filed a case of murder and are searching for all parts of Shraddha’s body.