Dexter Inspired Delhi Murder: When Will Media Assume Culpability With Show Plots?

28-year-old Aftab Ameen Poonawala residing in Delhi strangled his 26-year-old live-in girlfriend Shraddha Walkar in May this year. The six-month-old incident has just surfaced owing to Poonawala’s deft murderous skills inspired by the American serial killer series, Dexter. 

After strangling his girlfriend Poonawala realised that to evade being arrested he had to carefully dispose of her body and evidence of his crime in the process. After some planning, he invested in a 300-litre refrigerator and after chopping Walkar’s body into small-sized pieces, he stored it there. Every night post 2 AM Poonawala would carry some of these pieces and scatter them across the Mehrauli forest over 18 days. He even burned incense sticks at his house so that no one could suspect the remains of a corpse at his place. 

Poonawala was only arrested after Walkar’s father filed a missing complaint with the police when he could not reach his daughter on call for days. Initially, Poonawala denied having anything to do with the murder but eventually owned up under police pressure. 

It came to light that Poonawala got aggressive after Walkar pursued the topic of their marriage. Poonawala having received training as a chef decided the best way to get rid of Walkar’s body was to chop it into smaller pieces and dispose of it. 

Poonawala admits to being an admirer of the American crime show Dexter. His act of chopping the body into 35 pieces is reminiscent of the said series. 

Dexter Inspired Delhi Murder

He wouldn’t be the first to take inspiration from the series. In 2014, 17-year-old Steeve Miles from Oxted, Surrey in the UK was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment for stabbing to death and then dismembering his 17-year-old girlfriend. Miles stated that his alter ego Ed made him commit the murder. After stabbing his girlfriend in the back and head, he dismembered her with his father’s saw, wrapped the body parts, and put it in a bin bag. 

In both the Delhi and UK instance both of the copycat killers felt the need to imbibe the qualities of their idol, Dexter. Therefore, isn't it time we question the role of the media in inspiring such crimes? Should the media not assume culpability for the kind of narrative they push out into the world?  Had the Dexter series been subjected to strict censorship, perhaps the copycat killers might have chosen a different career trajectory for themselves. 

The media is largely responsible for influencing developing minds and sometimes developed minds. Thus, it is important to feed the audience with the correct narrative and make good use of its power to influence. Viewing fictitious immoral practices makes the audience believe in the power to get away with any wrongdoings. Some of them seem unable to differentiate between the real and the fictitious world and then go on to commit crimes of passion. 

The views expressed are the author's own. 

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