SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
New Delhi: “Our daughter will not get justice,” was the first thing the mother of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022, said after learning about Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s appointment as Sikkim governor.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Ankita’s father said his wife fell ill after hearing the news and expressed concern that their daughter would not get justice.
“We will sit on a protest within 24 hours if the government does not remove Gautam from the post of Sikkim governor,” he said, adding that his family had received support from people across the country and urging them to stand by them until Ankita gets justice.
He further urged that all the investigation in his daughter’s case by the CBI should be done under the Supreme Court’s supervision.
Ankita’s mother said the family had been unable to lead a peaceful life since her death.
“We are unable to live peacefully thinking about our daughter. How many tears can I shed? Whenever I open my eyes, I see her,” she said.
She added that the family had not celebrated festivals as other people do since losing Ankita.
Activist Yogita Bhayana, who was present with the family, said Ankita’s parents did not want to associate their protest with any political party and had not called anyone to join them, but those who wished to support them were welcome.
“We did not have to protest yesterday either. The parents had come here to speak to the press and did not know where to go, so we sat at India Gate,” she said.
Bhayana said Delhi Police had been supportive and had not used force against the family.
She added that when some political leaders joined them, police asked them to leave as India Gate was not a designated protest site.
“The victim’s parents were also handled very calmly by police personnel, who assisted them to the bus,” she said, urging people in Sikkim to support the family’s demand for justice.
Ankita’s parents were released around 5 am on Thursday, hours after they were detained while protesting near India Gate against Gautam’s appointment.
Her father had issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Centre to cancel the appointment, warning of a nationwide agitation if the demand was not met.
The family has been demanding that Gautam’s appointment be put on hold until the ongoing CBI investigation into the case is completed. They have alleged that he was linked to the “VIP angle” in the case.
Gautam has denied the accusations and initiated defamation proceedings against those making them.
19-year-old Ankita worked as receptionist
Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, was killed on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla canal four days later.
She was 19.
Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two accomplices were convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case drew political attention over allegations that an unidentified VIP was linked to the crime. Ankita’s family and activists have called for an investigation into this angle, with Gautam’s name being raised in connection with the allegations.
Gautam, a former BJP national general secretary who had served as the party’s in-charge for Uttarakhand, was appointed Sikkim governor on Monday.
SOURCE : SIASAT
