Union minister's remarks on Delhi murder victim sparks outrage: ‘must sack him…’

Aaftab Amin Poonawala, 33, allegedly murdered his live-in partner Shraddha Vikas Walkar on May 18 and hacked her body into 35 pieces and dumped them in Chhattarpur and Mehrauli areas.

Published on: Nov 17, 2022, 13:57:11 IST

By HT News Desk

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Union minister Kaushal Kishore's remarks blaming Shraddha Walkar for her murder have sparked outrage on social media. Speaking to the television channel CNN-News18, Kishore said that educated girls are to be blamed for leaving their parents for live-in relationships.

When asked whether he was holding the victim responsible for her murder, Kishore said, "Absolutely responsible (for the incident). Her mother opposed, her father opposed...an educated girl took this decision...it was a mistake..they should get involved in (live-in relationships)...If you really fall in love with someone, get married first. What's this live-in relation? Such methods are encouraging crimes."

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed Kishore for his “shameless, heartless and cruel, blame-the-woman-for-all problems mentality”, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack the minister if he really means “what he says about women Shakti”.

“Surprised he didn’t say girls are responsible for being born into this nation. Shameless, heartless and cruel, blame-the-woman-for-all problems mentality continues to thrive,” Chaturvedi said in a tweet.

“If @PMOIndia really means what he says about women Shakti then he must sack this Union Minister immediately. We the women have had enough of carrying the burden of such patriarchal rubbish in the society,” she added.

The accused, Aaftab Amin Poonawala, allegedly murdered his live-in partner Shraddha Vikas Walkar on May 18 and hacked her body into 35 pieces and dumped them in Chhattarpur and Mehrauli areas.

Poonawala and Walkar met on an online dating application in 2019. Later, they started working at a call centre in Mumbai’s Malad area. Since their families were opposed to their relationship, the couple began living together in Mumbai, and moved to Delhi in May this year.

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