The Tis Hazari court on Thursday awarded rigorous life imprisonment to three persons for killing 23-year-old photographer Ankit Saxena in 2018 over an interfaith affair. The court said death sentence in the case was not justified because there was possibility of rehabilitation of the convicts, who were parents and uncle of the girl with whom the deceased was in relationship.
The murder made headlines as Saxena was stabbed to death in broad daylight in the Khyala area of West Delhi by the family members of a woman with whom he had been in a relationship. The woman’s family had opposed her relationship with Saxena as the two belonged to different communities.
Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Sharma awarded rigorous life imprisonment to Akbar Ali and Shahnaz Begum, the father and mother of the deceased’s girlfriend Shehzadi. Her maternal uncle, Mohammad Salim, was also awarded the same punishment. The court imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on each of the accused which had to be paid to Saxena’s mother.
The three were convicted by the court in December 2023. The prosecution had sought death penalty for them.
The court observed that death sentence could only be imposed in the “rarest of rare” cases. It noted that at the time of commission of crime, all the three convicts were in the age group of 43, 40 and 40 respectively.
‘Clean antecedents’
“They had clean antecedents having no previous 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 well rooted in the society. Moreover, they are in judicial custody for about six years,” the court noted.
The judge added that 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, he was of the opinion that it is not a fit case for imposition of death penalty.
The court sentenced the three to rigorous life imprisonment for committing the offences under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention). Shahnaj Begum will serve rigorous imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 323 IPC along with a fine of ₹1,000.
