“Iftar for love” despite son being murdered by Muslim lover's family

Ankit Saxena was in love with a woman called Shehzadi.

In times when even trivial issues can spark communal conflicts, the family of Ankit Saxena, who was murdered by his Muslim girlfriend's family, is organising an iftar this Ramzan to send a message to the society that love is beyond faiths.

Ankit's father Yashpal Saxena never allowed his son's murder to be communalised and, infact, wants to establish a trust to help couples who want to marry outside their faith. The iftar event, Yashpal said, was a "starting point" for the trust he wants to establish in Ankit's name, reported The Print. 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," Yashpal was quoted as saying by The Print.

The local police station and all the officials investigating the case have also been invited by the family. They want to reach out and help couples who want to or already have married people outside their faith, reported DNA.

"The iftar will be held at the local park near our society. We keep going to the local police station to follow up on the progress of the investigation and hence our first invite went to the officers there," Yashpal said, as per The Print report.

Ankit Saxena was in love with a woman called Shehzadi. Her parents were opposed to the relationship. He was stabbed to death by the girl's family in Delhi in February this year.

The police learnt that Ankit was in his car in the neighbourhood. The girlfriend's mother got to know about the same and rushed to the spot on her scooter. She then intentionally hit against the car which forced Ankit out of the vehicle. When he got out, the mother confronted him about the relationship. The rest of her family then joined in and started abusing Ankit. They then began assaulting him. His parents were right there and were begging to spare their son's life. However Ankit was murdered in the most brutal fashion, eyewitnesses had told the police.