After son's brutal murder by Muslim girlfriend's family, Ankit Saxena's father to host iftar for communal harmony

In February, Yashpal Saxena’s world came crashing down when he got the news that his son was brutally murdered in broad daylight. 

Ankit Saxena, the 23-year-old photographer, was mercilessly thrashed and murdered in a market of west Delhi’s Khayala area on February 3. 

The young man was killed by his Muslim girlfriend’s family who were against the inter-faith relationship. 

Nevertheless, despite the hostility and drama, Yashpal Saxena always made sure that his son’s murder was not communalised. 

Months later, Saxena is planning to host an iftar party on June 3 for promoting communal harmony. 

‘This is just an attempt to further our cause of communal harmony...We want our son’s name to be synonymous with this cause,’ Saxena was quoted as saying by The Print.

The local police station and all the officials investigating the ase have also been invited by the family. The Saxenas are also planning to form a trust in their son’s name. They want to reach out and help couples who want to or already have married people outside their faith. 

The fateful day 

Saxena was on his way to meet his girlfriend when her family caught sight of him in Raghubir Nagar and a verbal spat followed. "He was then attacked with a knife. Since the two belong to different communities, police force has been deployed in the area," a senior police officer was quoted as saying.

Saxena's mother was also beaten up when she rushed to the location, and it was her who took him to the hospital in an auto-rickshaw. “There were dozens of people watching my son get beaten up, but none of them dared to save him. My son was a body builder himself, but he was helpless when the killers caught and killed him. The sight of the woman’s father wielding a big kukri knife must have scared others,” the mother said at the time of the incident.