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Ankit Saxena's Family Calls For Peace Even As West Delhi's Khyala Remains Tense

"We don’t want Delhi to turn into Kasganj over Ankit."
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In the aftermath of the murder of Ankit Saxena -- a 23-year-old, who was allegedly killed by the family of a girl, Shehzadi, because the two were in a relationship -- while eyewitnesses have recounted the horror of what happened to Saxena, his family has requested the people of Delhi to not use his murder to start a riot.

Much hate mongering was seen on social media in the days following Saxena's murder. But amid heated discussions on Twitter and Facebook, Saxena's family has called for peace.

The Quint quoted Saxena's cousin Ashish Duggal as saying, "This is not about two communities and I request the people and media to not give the incident a communal angle. We don't want Delhi to turn into Kasganj over Ankit."

Duggal also hoped that a fast-track court would be set up and those responsible for Saxena's death would be punished.

Duggal's comments come amid tight security in Raghubir Nagar in West Delhi's Khyala. Units of the paramilitary forces are still on vigil.

Residents of the area are still living in fear. Even the extended family of the woman involved in the case are facing problems.

The Indian Express reports that Bajrang Dal activists have shut down a parlour run by the extended family and have asked other residents in the are to boycott the family.

Raghubir Nagar has always had people from different communities living together for years, residents say they have never seen such a situation before.

Riyazzuddin, originally Kasganj, and Rajpal from Hapur, tell the Indian Express "We've lived here for three decades... we've celebrated Eid and Diwali together. We've never seen so much tension here. The media and politicians are playing politics over it and ruining the atmosphere here."

The police have so far arrested the girl's parents and uncle for the murder.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal took to Twitter on Sunday condemning the incident.

Deputy Chief Minister has visited Saxena's family and had also requested a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the family.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.