A Delhi court has delivered its verdict on 2018 Ankit Saxena murder case, convicting three individuals for the heinous crime. The convicted individuals are identified as Mohd. Salim, Akbar Ali, and Shahnaz Begum.
The court stated that all three accused have been found guilty of the punishable offenses under Section 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Shahnaz Begum was also convicted under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC for assaulting Ankit Saxena's mother, Kamlesh Saxena, as she tried to protect her son.
The prosecution built its case on the testimonies of 28 witnesses, including Ankit Saxena's father, Yashpal Saxena, mother, and friends Nitin and Anmol. The court emphasized the consistency of their testimonies, highlighting the coherence in their account of the alleged offense. Furthermore, the court noted the alignment of the witnesses' statements with the postmortem report, the testimony of the conducting doctor, and the forensic science laboratory (FSL) expert, enhancing the credibility of the prosecution's case. On the other hand, the court dismissed the testimonies of defense witnesses, considering them motivated, tutored, contradictory, and unreliable. The court also found contradictions in the statements made by the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Addressing the defense's arguments about discrepancies in the prosecution witnesses' statements, the court asserted that these discrepancies were minor and did not impact the core of the prosecution's case, urging their dismissal. The court highlighted that the prosecution successfully established the motive behind Ankit Saxena’s murder, attributing it to his relationship with a girl. The court noted that despite efforts by the girl's parents to change their residence, the relationship persisted, leading to the tragic incident.
What was the case?
Anki Saxena, a photographer, was brutally killed by his girlfriend's family in public in Raghubir Nagar, West Delhi. With the help of others, Saxena's family rushed him to Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in an e-rickshaw, but he was declared dead upon arrival.