The brazen murder of a young photographer, Ankit Saxena, by relatives of his alleged girlfriend in West Delhi’s Raghubir Nagar has taken a political turn, with BJP leaders questioning the silence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, along with other party leaders, also visited Ankit’s house and met his family members. Nobody from AAP had reacted on the incident by Saturday evening.
“Shocked and Horrified on cold-blooded murder of #AnkitSaxena. Culprits should be punished with the highest quantum,” Tiwari tweeted earlier in the day. The BJP also demanded that the Delhi government should pay `1 crore to the family of the deceased.
Ankit was reportedly set to marry the woman, but her family was opposed to their relationship as they belonged to different communities. Four of her family members, including her father, uncle and minor brother, assaulted and stabbed the 23-year-old Ankit before slitting his throat in full public view on Thursday.
The locality remained tense on Saturday even as the four accused were arrested on Friday. Paramilitary and police were deployed in the area. To maintain the law and order situation and prevent communal conflagration, the Delhi Police refused to divulge much details to the media. “Police have arrested all the accused and the case is under the supervision of senior officers,” said Vijay Kumar, DCP, West Delhi.
The woman told a news channel that her uncle had killed Ankit and now she was also facing threat from her family. “My uncle killed Ankit. We wanted to get married. I am also very scared now,” she told a news channel.
Meanwhile, several celebrities condemned the murder. Actor-director Farhan Akhtar tweeted, “Horrified to hear about the cold-blooded murder of #AnkitSaxena in Delhi. And for what??? #shame Cannot imagine the grief his parents must be going through. My deepest condolences to them.”
Actor Gul Panag posted a tweet saying, “While #Budget2018 has been distracting no doubt, the ‘relative’ lack of outrage over the horrific killing of Ankit is disturbing. Such perceived double standards don’t augur well for the larger liberal cause.”
Kavita Krishnan @kavita_krishnan Activist
Horrific ‘honour’ killing in Delhi – Ankit Saxena was in love with a Muslim woman, whose father stabbed him in the neck on street. When will India let love triumph, & inter-caste, inter-faith, all kinds of love thrive without violence, hate?
But Farhan Akhtar got thrashed and ripped apart by the social media:
