In a gut-wrenching incident, a 29-year-old woman was strangled allegedly by her live-in partner, who chopped her body into nearly 35 pieces and kept them in a fridge for nearly 20 days before gradually dumping them across Delhi.

According to police officials, 28-year-old Aftab Poonawala of Mumbai has been arrested in the case, and some severed body parts of the woman, Shraddha Walkar, have been recovered. The weapon used in the crime is yet to be found, they said.

"The duo fell in love while working in Mumbai and came to Delhi by April-end or May first week after facing opposition from their families. While they were living in the national capital, they had an argument in mid-May over marriage, which escalated and he strangled her," Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP-I, South district, said.

"He then cut her body into pieces and disposed them in different parts of the city. The accused had preserved the woman's body in a fridge and disposed them on different occasions," he added.

Chauhan said that a few days after the couple started living in Delhi, the woman's father in Mumbai realised she was missing. He filed a missing report with the Mumbai Police.

The accused has been taken into a five-day remand and further investigation is underway.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal demanded stringent punishment for the accused.

"In a heart wrenching incident in Delhi, a woman was killed by her boyfriend, who cut her body into 35 pieces and kept them in a fridge. He dumped the body parts in various parts of the city. What kind of cruel people are there in the society. Police have arrested the accused and the cruel man should be given strict punishment," she said in a tweet in Hindi.