The family of migrant labourer Mohammad Afrazul, who was hacked to death and burnt in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand town in December 2017, has opposed the decision of the Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena to offer a Lok Sabha ticket to accused Shambhulal Regar, reported The Indian Express on Friday.

“We want nothing but strong punishment for him [Regar],” Afrazul’s wife Gul Bahar Bibi told the daily. “He has taken everything away from us and we want justice to prevail. No one should field a murderer like him from any seat.”

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Bibi said if Regar gets an election ticket, he will evade punishment and there might be chances he will not be convicted. “We don’t want that to happen.”

Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena said they have offered Regar a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Agra seat, which is reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes. The party’s national president, Amit Jani, told News 18 that Regar had accepted the offer and that he will contest the elections from Jodhpur jail, where he is currently lodged.

“He [Regar] wanted to frighten people of the country with his unpardonable act,” Bibi said. “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.”

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Samirul Islam, president of the Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, also condemned the move. “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,” Islam said.

On December 6, Afrazul, a labourer from Malda in West Bengal, was hacked to death and soon videos of the incident went viral on social media. In one of the three videos, Regar purportedly rants against Muslims, calling them “jihadis”, and blaming them for the drug trade, fake currency and movies that insult Hindu figures. Regar had claimed he killed Afrazul for pursuing a Hindu girl.