‘Will never forget or forgive anyone’: grieving mother still awaits ‘justice’
Acourt here on Thursday awarded rigorous life imprisonment to three persons for killing 23yearold photographer Ankit Saxena in 2018 over an interfaith affair. The court said it did not award the death sentence in the case as there was a possibility of the rehabilitation of the convicts — Akbar Ali and Shahnaz Begum, the parents of Saxena’s friend and her maternal uncle Mohammad Salim.
Ali, Begum, and Salim stabbed Saxena to death in broad daylight on February 1, 2018, in west Delhi’s Raghubir Nagar as they opposed the interfaith relationship. The court had convicted the three in December 2023, and the prosecution had sought the death penalty for them.
Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Sharma observed that the death sentence could only be awarded in the “rarest of rare” cases. He noted that at the time of the commission of the offence, all three convicts “had clean antecedents” and “no previous [criminal] involvement”.
“Further, no history of any criminal inclination, drug abuse or any other addiction has been brought on record. Before being arrested in this case, the convicts were living with their families and were wellrooted in society,” the court said. It added that the three have been in judicial custody for the past six years.
“Considering the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, age, gender, social background, previous antecedents, and the period of custody already undergone, as well as their family responsibilities, this court is of the opinion that it is not a fit case for the imposition of the death penalty,” the judge said.
Fines imposed
The court sentenced the three to rigorous life imprisonment and directed each to pay ₹50,000 to the deceased’s mother.
The three were sentenced for offences under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention).
Kamlesh Saxena’s only son was hacked to death by her neighbours right in front of her eyes. Six years on, she is still haunted by one question: “Why didn’t they try to talk to us? Why did they have to kill my child?”
On the fateful day, Ankit’s 19yearold girlfriend reportedly had an argument with her parents as they were against the interfaith relationship. After the argument escalated, she, according to the police, left her house, locking the main door from outside. She then reportedly asked Ankit to pick her up. When her parents managed to unbolt the main door, expecting their daughter to be with Ankit, they rushed towards his house. While he was on the way to meet his girlfriend on a twowheeler, they stopped him. The woman’s father stabbed him in the neck while other family members — mother, uncle and a minor brother — had pinned Ankit down, according to the police. They also thrashed Ankit’s mother, who tried to save her son during the fight, the police had said. His father was not at home at the time of the incident. Ankit was taken to hospital by his mother in an autorickshaw. “I still remember his last words. As they continued to hit him mercilessly, he kept saying, ‘I don’t know where she is…’ I will not forget that or forgive anyone,” said the 55yearold mother after the court’s order on Thursday.
More tragedy
While she struggled to come to terms with her loss, she was dealt another blow as the pandemic claimed her husband in 2021, leaving her alone to manage her finances at a time when she could barely think straight. Ailing and unable to do much, she is now forced to make ends meet with a measly ₹2,500 widow’s pension a month. Mostly living alone when her extended family isn’t visiting, Ms. Kamlesh often experiences panic attacks. Despite all her hardships, she still hopes for justice and a world where people do not harbour hate. “I have not seen any difference in the last six years. There is a lot of hate in the society, it’s scary to live alone now,” she said.
The two families used to be nextdoor neighbours. Three years before the incident, the woman’s family had moved to the next block. “Her family was like ours... I never thought they could do something so brutal,” Ms. Kamlesh said. She still believes that had the woman’s family initiated a conversation with them, such an incident wouldn’t have happened. “If only they spoke to us... they shouldn’t have done this.” While she hoped for a death sentence, Ms. Kamlesh said she will consult her lawyers regarding the next course of action. “They should be sentenced to death to send out the message that nobody can get away with a crime like that,” said Ms. Kamlesh.