Shraddha Walkar’s hair, 5 knives: How this evidence could be a turning point in the case against Aftab Poonawala
In the gruesome murder case of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar, the Delhi Police recovered multiple knives on Thursday (24 November), allegedly used by her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala.
The five knives were seized from Aftab’s flat and Mehrauli forest area where Aftab had allegedly dumped Shraddha’s severed body parts over days.
“Police have recovered five big knives from Aftab’s flat (in Delhi’s Mehrauli) which are different from kitchen knives in the house. They were very sharp, which are about five-six inches in length,” the police sources were quoted as saying by India Today.
However, the mini-saw that Aftab allegedly used to dismember Shraddha’s body is still to be recovered, the Delhi Police revealed, as per news agency PTI.
Police sources told the news agency that the recovered knives have been sent to Delhi’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for ascertaining if they were used to commit the crime.
Meanwhile, sources in the Delhi Police told CNN-News18 that the hair strands found by the police, which allegedly belong to Shraddha, are an “important lead”. These strands are reportedly being sent to FSL for conducting a DNA test.
How do these recovered knives and hair strands are crucial in the murder investigation? What materials are yet to be recovered by the police that can help in solving Shraddha Walkar’s murder? We explain.
Importance of recovered knives and hair strands
The recovered knives can become a crucial piece of evidence if it is proved that they were allegedly used by Aftab to chop Shraddha’s body into pieces.
In May, Shraddha was allegedly strangled by Aftab, her body cut into 35 pieces, stored in a 300-litre fridge for nearly three weeks at the couple’s rented residence in Mehrauli, and then thrown across the city over several days.
If any fingerprints or blood stains belonging to the accused or the victim are found on these knives, it could help in establishing that they are murder weapons.
“If these knives were used during the commission of the crime will be ascertained only after the forensic examination, which takes time,” PTI cited a source as saying.
The hair strands which allegedly belong to Shraddha can lead to the identification of the victim.
Hair samples are among the “most important resources in the forensic analysis of crime scenes”, says Medical News website.
The website further states that hair can be used to extract DNA for analyses which reduces the search for those involved in a crime.
“Humans shed an average of approximately 100 head hairs per day, and because hair can be easily transferred during physical contact it is commonly submitted as forensic evidence to help establish associations between people (eg a victim and suspect) and/or people and a crime scene,” Medical News notes.
Hair can be easily transferred during violent crimes such as murder and sexual assault, the website adds.
A Fortune Journals article titled ‘Hair – A good source of DNA to solve the crime’, says that hair is an “important source of DNA” in a criminal investigation.
“Some of the hairs include the hair bulb which is composed of living cells that generate the keratin shaft. The bulb cells contain DNA. This DNA can help connect the suspect to the weapon and the crime scene. Also, it provides strong evidence if found over the body of the deceased or the accused,” the Fortune Journals article adds.
If the end of the hair contains a root, a nuclear DNA testing procedure called Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis can be held to identify who the hair belongs to. While a hair shed without a root can be sent for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing of the hair shaft, as per Medical News.
Which items have been found and what remains missing?
The Delhi Police have recovered a human jaw during searches for Shraddha’s body parts.
As per the PTI report on Monday (21 November), the police approached a dentist in Delhi to determine whether it is of the victim.
“The police came today. They had a picture of the jaw which they recovered during investigation. I asked them to get an X-ray from the Mumbai-based doctor who treated the woman, for a root canal treatment or so. Without an X-ray, it is very difficult to identify,” the dentist told PTI.
On Sunday, the Delhi Police had found parts of a skull and some bones in a nearby forest area, as per PTI.
Meanwhile, according to Indian Express, the police have launched searches across Delhi, Gurgaon and three other states to recover the missing saw, Shraddha’s body parts as well as the couple’s blood-stained clothes.
India Today reported citing sources that Aftab had allegedly disposed of the clothes in a garbage van. Recovering them is a difficult task as six months have passed since the crime allegedly occurred and when it was discovered earlier this month.
A team of Delhi Police, which is in Maharashtra, looked in Bhayander creek near Mumbai for a mobile phone with the help of personnel of the Mira-Bhayandar-Vasai-Virar Police.
Shraddha’s phone, a key piece of electronic evidence, is yet to be retrieved by the police.
The Delhi Police team is camping in the Vasai area near Mumbai, from where Shraddha and Aftab hailed.
Another challenge before the Delhi Police is to prove the timing of Shraddha’s murder. The remains of Shraddha, especially her bones, can play a major role in corroborating when she died and even the cause of death, as per India Today report.
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Aftab’s polygraph test done
Aftab underwent a second session of the polygraph test on Thursday at a forensic lab in Delhi, which went for around eight hours.
As per PTI report, the murder accused was asked 40 questions, including what triggered him to kill his partner, if it was a planned murder or if he did it in a ‘fit of rage’ as he had claimed in the court.
He had appeared for the first session of the polygraph test on Tuesday.
With inputs from agencies
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