Two women who were murdered in Delhi’s Najafgarh and Maharashtra’s Nalasapora by their live-in partners has brought back memories of Shraddha Walkar’s cold-blooded murder by her lover in south Delhi’s Mehrauli. A recap of the three spine-chilling cases.

(From L-R) Shraddha Walkar, Nikki Yadav, and Megha Dhan Singh Torvi.

By Anupriya Thakur: Body chopped into 35 pieces, stuffed in a fridge, body parts thrown in the forests of Delhi’s Mehrauli over a period of time. This was May 2022. Cut to February 2023, a similar case, in which a woman’s body was found stuffed in a dhaba freezer, was reported in Delhi’s Najafgarh. While gory details of the case were still emerging, another woman’s decomposed body was recovered from her bed box in Maharashtra’s Palghar. What’s common in all these cases? They were all killed by their lovers.

Let’s take a look at all these three spine-chilling cases.

Nikki Yadav

Twenty-four-year old Sahil Gehlot, a resident of Mitraon village in southwest Delhi, allegedly killed his live-in partner Nikki Yadav and stuffed her body inside a freezer at his dhaba in Najafgarh. Hours later, he married another woman.

According to the police, Nikki Yadav was strangled to death by Sahil Gehlot with the data cable of his mobile in his car. The incident took place near Kashmiri Gate ISBT on the intervening night of February 9 and 10. He then kept driving with her body next to him, for nearly 40 kilometers within the national capital. Hours later, he went off to marry another woman.

The police said that Sahil Genhlot and Nikki Yadav met each other at a coaching centre in Uttam Nagar area in 2018. Soon, they fell in love and started living together. They even attended the same college and started living together in Greater Noida in a rented house.

ALSO WATCH | Family was unaware of Sahil-Nikki relationship: Victim’s father

Sahil Gahlot said that his family was putting pressure on him to get married to some other woman. His engagement and marriage were fixed for February 9 and 10, respectively.

The accused did not inform Nikki about his engagement or marriage plans. When Nikki Yadav got wind of his wedding plan she confronted him and arguments started between the two.

ALSO READ | Nikki cancelled Goa trip; father says cops told him about her death

On Tuesday, the crime branch recovered a white Verna car in which Sahil strangulated Nikki. Sahil was taken into custody the same day. On Wednesday, a Delhi court sent him to five-day police custody for further interrogation.

ALSO WATCH | CCTV footage of Nikki Yadav hours before her murder

Megha Dhan Singh Torvi

Even as gory details of Nikki Yadav murder case were still emerging, the police in Maharashtra’s Palghar recovered a 35-year-old woman’s body from her bed box at her home in Nalasopara.

Megha Dhan Singh Torvi’s decomposed body was recovered after neighbours alerted the police that a foul smell was emanating from inside the victim’s rented house.

Megha, a nurse by profession, was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Hardik Shah, 27. Hardik was jobless and the couple used to have arguments often. During one such quarrel he allegedly killed her, the police said.

The couple had allegedly told their real estate agent, landlord and neighbours that they were married.

The accused also messaged his sister about the killing and sold off furniture in the flat before fleeing.

Hardik Shah, who was trying to escape after killing her, was arrested by the police on Tuesday.

Shraddha Walkar

On May 18, 2022, Aaftab Amin Poonawala, 28, sliced his 25-year-old live-in partner’s body into 35 pieces after allegedly strangling her. In a 6,629-page chargesheet, Aftab described how he killed Shraddha Walkar, chopped her body parts, stored them in a newly bought fridge and disposed them off in a forest in Mehrauli over the next 18 days. He also revealed that he burnt the bones of Shraddha Walkar and, after grinding them with a stone grinder had blown/thrown the powder away.

In the chargesheet, Aftab Poonawala said that after killing Shraddha Walkar, he closed the main door of the house at about 07.45pm and went to a nearby hardware shop and purchased a saw, 3 blades, a hammer and plastic clip from there.

“Thereafter, I came back to the flat and shifted the body of Shraddha in the bathroom and cut the hands of Shraddha by cutting from the wrists with the help of the saw and kept them in a white polythene,” Aaftab’s statement in the chargesheet read.

He said that that while cutting the wrists of Shraddha, he also suffered a minor cut on his left hand. “I had placed the polythene containing both the hands of Shraddha in the lower cabinet of the kitchen under the water camper. On the next night of the murder, Le 19/20-05-2022 at about 2 am, I disposed off one thigh part of the dead body in the jungle of Chattarpur Pahari situated at M.G. Road near 1001 bols red light. Over the next 4-5 days, I cut the dead body in 17 pieces (three pieces of each hand (6 pieces), three pieces of each leg (six pieces), head, torso, two pieces of pelvic, and thumb,” he added.

Aaftab further said that he used to dispose of the body parts one by one as per his convenience.

The chargesheet further revealed that after killing Shraddha Walkar, Aaftab Poonawal became friends with a woman. “He had shifted Walkar’s dismembered body from a refrigerator (after cleaning it) to the kitchen cabinet when she visited the accused’s residence,” the charge sheet said.

ALSO READ | Shraddha would’ve been alive had Maharashtra cops acted earlier, says father in 1st public appearance

Aftab Poonawala had even gifted her Walkar’s silver ring to his “new friend”, the charge sheet said.

“Shraddha Walkar doubted that he was cheating on her and he also disclosed that it was the main issue of his quarrel with Walkar. He disclosed that he used to beat her over these issues,” the charge sheet said.

According to the charge sheet, Shraddha Walkar used to work at a call centre in Mumbai and told her team leader that she was unable to come to the office as Poonawala had beaten her.

“Shraddha Walkar also told him that she used to take frequent leave because of beatings of Poonawala and used to pretend of being ill. On March 18, 2021, she left the job,” it said.

The two met on a dating app in 2019 and moved in together in Delhi after staying in Mumbai for some time. Aaftab and Shraddha fought over household expenses, infidelity and other issues. Their relationship was strained, the police said.

The case came to light in November 2022. Aaftab was arrested on November 12 and is currently lodged in the Tihar Jail. Shraddha Walkar’s father has demanded death penalty for the accused.

(With inputs from Arvind Ojha, Mustafa Shaikh)