Speaking to The Indian Express, Afrazul’s wife Gul Bahar Bibi said her husband’s killer will evade punishment if he gets a ticket and is elected.
The family of migrant labourer Mohammad Afrazul Khan, who was murdered in Rajasthan last year, has strongly opposed the decision of the Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena to offer a Lok Sabha ticket to his killer Shambhulal Regar.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Afrazul’s wife Gul Bahar Bibi said her husband’s killer will evade punishment if he gets a ticket and is elected.
“We want nothing but strong punishment for him. He has taken everything away from us and we want justice to prevail. No one should field a murderer like him from any seat. If he gets an election ticket, he will evade punishment and there will be chances that he might not get convicted at all. We don’t want that to happen,” she said over the phone.
A Muslim labourer from Malda, Afrazul was hacked and burnt alive by Regar over an alleged affair in Rajasthan, where he had been working. Regar even roped in his 14-year-old nephew to film the killing and later circulated the video on social media. Regar was arrested by police and is presently lodged in Jodhpur jail.
Recently, Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena national president Amit Jani announced the names of five contestants for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Regar’s name was fielded for the Agra seat, which is reserved for scheduled castes.
“He (Regar) wanted to frighten people of the country with his unpardonable act. But we are not scared. We will fight it till the end. We want to see him getting hanged and we are strongly condemning the recent move to give him an election ticket,” said Bibi.
Samirul Islam, president of the Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, also condemned the move.
“A few months back, we organised a protest against the heinous murder of Afrazul, who was a daily labourer working in Rajasthan. Now, because of some political group, the offender is likely to contest in Lok Sabha election. If the criminal contests an election, it will be a grave danger to humanity and also pose a threat to the safety of Afrazul’s family. We strongly condemn the development as we also want strong punishment for Regar,” he said.