Aftab Amin Poonawala used to beat up Shraddha Walkar and then apologise, persuading her to forgive him, her brother testified on Thursday in a Delhi court, which commenced recording the testimonies of witnesses in the sensational murder trial.

Shraddha, who was in a live-in relationship with the accused, was allegedly strangled by Poonawala on May 18 last year. The accused is suspected to have dismembered her body, kept it in a fridge, and disposed of the pieces in desolate spots across the city over several days to evade the police. Many of her body parts were discovered later in a nearby forest.