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AAP Hands Over Rs 15 Lakh Cheque To Ankit Saxena’s Father

A year-and-a-half after his son was murdered, Yashpal Saxena, hailed a secular hero, finally gets monetary relief.
Twitter/AAPDelhi

NEW DELHI The Delhi Government on Thursday handed over a cheque for Rs 15 lakh to Yashpal Saxena, the father of Ankit Saxena, a 23-year-old photographer, who was murdered by his girlfriend’s family on 1 February, 2018 in West Delhi.

Ankit was in a relationship with a Muslim woman, whose family objected to her dating a Hindu.

Last month, HuffPost India reported that both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had failed to fulfill their promises of helping Saxena, who was hailed a secular hero for not letting his son’s murder become a flashpoint for communal violence.

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He, in fact, went out of his way to promote communal harmony by hosting an Iftar party in June, four months after his son was murdered.

Over the past year, Saxena has been living in near penury, while visiting city courts to fight his son’s murder case.

On Thursday, AAP tweeted out images of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj handing over the cheque to Saxena at his home.

“The money helps. I would like to make two rooms and give them out on rent. I have no source of income right now,” Saxena told HuffPost India today.

“But my focus is getting justice for my son. Nothing can remove the emptiness of my son,” he said.

AAP sources tell HuffPost India that the file appointing two special public prosecutors for Saxena, which has been pending for over a year, has very nearly been processed.

While the Delhi government had promised him compensation worth at least Rs 5 lakh and two special public prosecutors, the local BJP lawmaker, Pravesh Sahib Singh Verma, promised him a food cart to help him earn a living.

On the day that the HuffPost India report was published, Saxena said that he had heard from Verma’s personal secretary, who assured him the matter would be taken care of without any further delay.

Today, Saxena said that he is in possession of the food cart. “I’m completing formalities for an electricity connection. Otherwise, it will be too hot in the summer.”

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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.