The Delhi police have recovered a sharp object from the rented flat of Aftab Poonawalla, the accused in the murder of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar, in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur and will send it for forensic examination, said officers.
Some clothes have also been seized from the house and they too will be sent for forensic examination, said the police.
The police continued their search in the forest area of Gurugram’s DLF Phase 3 on Saturday but did not find any crucial evidence, sources said.
The search in the forest began on Friday after the police suspected that Aftab disposed of the weapon there after allegedly chopping Shraddha’s body into pieces. On Friday, certain items were recovered from the forest in a polythene bag, but it was not confirmed as to what the contents were.
Meanwhile, a purported CCTV footage went viral on social media in which Aftab could allegedly be seen walking on a street in the night, carrying a backpack on his shoulders and a package in his right hand. The date of the video is yet to be ascertained, the police said.
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Teams of Delhi police personnel have reached Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for further investigation.
In Maharashtra, the police have recorded statements of four persons — former manager of a call centre in Mumbai where Shraddha worked, her female friend, and two male friends, Rahul Rai and Godwin Rodriguez, with whom the victim had allegedly shared the pattern of abuse she faced from Aftab.
Mumbai police said the family members of Aftab have fled to an unknown location from a building in Mira Road near Mumbai where they had shifted last month, and are untraceable.
‘Victim of abuse’
Shraddha’s friends, according to the police, had advised her to walk out of the “abusive” relationship; some of them had even asked her to seek legal help since she was scared for her life. She, however, continued to live with Aftab, the police said.
Nishtha Budhiraja, a psychologist and psychotherapist since 11 years who is also a survivor of an abusive relationship, said it’s not easy for a person trapped in an abusive relationship to walk away or seek legal help.
“It is difficult for a survivor to acknowledge and accept the patterns of abuse; there is a delicate balance between pain and pleasure when a person is subjected to such abuse,” Ms. Budhiraja said.
“For most survivors, any abuse is just one incident; their focus lies on the good parts of their relationship,” said Ms. Budhiraja.
Explaining the reasons why women find it difficult to get out of abusive relationships, she said gender-based conditioning plays an important role; women are expected to adjust and talking about such relationships becomes a taboo.
(With inputs from PTI)
