Ankit Saxena murder: Six years later, girlfriend’s kin get life term

SIX YEARS after he was killed in full public view by the kin of the woman he was in an interfaith relationship with, a Delhi court on Thursday sentenced three people to life imprisonment for the murder of 23-year-old photographer Ankit Saxena.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of the three accused — Akbar Ali and Shehnaz Begum, the parents of the woman Ankit was in a relationship with, and her uncle Mohd. Salim.

Ankit’s murder in broad daylight in Khyala’s Raghubir Nagar had rocked Delhi in 2018.

Ali and Begum were allegedly opposed to the match as their daughter and Ankit belonged to different faiths.

Meanwhile, Ankit's mother Kamlesh said she was not satisfied with the judgment. “We wanted a sentence to death by hanging. I will talk to my lawyer about approaching a higher court. I am not aware of the technicalities...if Ankit's father was alive, he would've known what to do... I have not been keeping well these days...” she said.

Kamlesh’s husband Yashpal died in 2021 due to complications from a heart condition and Covid-related issues. Ankit was their only son.

In December 2023, Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Sharma had convicted the accused.

The court, relying on scientific evidence and testimony of eyewitnesses, ruled that the prosecution had proved the motive of all the accused persons for committing Ankit’s murder.

Relying on the testimony of a doctor who conducted the postmortem examination, the court said that the prosecution was able to prove that the death was caused by “a sharp-edged weapon and the manner of the death was homicidal”.

The prosecution relied upon as many as 28 witnesses including Ankit's parents and two of his friends.

On February 1, 2018, Ankit was waylaid by the family of his 20-year-old girlfriend. The police said Saxena was beaten up for 10-15 minutes by Ali, Begum, their minor son and Salim. The police also said that while the accused were arguing with Saxena, his parents and friends came to his rescue. However, his mother was manhandled by the accused.

According to the police investigation, the relationship had come to light when the woman’s family found her texts and call logs indicating her communication with Ankit. Soon after the murder, the woman was sent to Nari Niketan as she claimed that her family might try to kill her as well. She was later sent to her aunt’s house. Her parents, brother and uncle were caught within days.

All three accused were convicted under Section 302 (murder) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The court additionally convicted Begum under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).

Archive Ankit Saxena was murdered in Delhi in 2018.