A court in Uttarakhand has declared three accused guilty in the 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari murder case. Ankita was killed in 2022 by her employer Pulkit Arya and two others, namely, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. Pulkit is the son of ex-BJP leader Vinod Arya.
According to the police, Ankita was murdered after she refused to offer “special services” to guests at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, where she worked as a receptionist. After the accused confessed, Ankita’s body was found in the Chilla canal, days after she went missing.
Pulkit was found guilty under several IPC sections, including molestation, murder, destroying evidence, and charges under the Immoral Trafficking Act, reported The Indian Express.
Who was Ankita and what happened to her?
Ankita came from a poor family in Pauri. Her father worked as a security guard. She had to drop out of her hotel management course during the COVID-19 pandemic due to financial problems. Later, she got the job of a receptionist at Vanantra Resort through a friend named Pushp, the IE report said.
About a month into her job, Ankita told Pushp that the resort owners were forcing her to offer sexual services to a VIP guest for Rs 10,000. On the night of her death, she spoke to Pushp at 8:32 pm and said she felt scared. The next morning, she was missing.
The FIR said that the accused were fearful that Ankita might expose them. They took her out of the resort on the night of September 18, killed her, and threw her body into the canal.
What followed?
As the case drew national attention, the three accused were arrested. The local administration partly demolished the resort, which led to concerns that key evidence might be lost. The BJP also expelled Pulkit’s father and brother from the party.
Initially, the case was reported to the local revenue police, but no action was taken, the report said. Patwari Vaibhav Pratap, who was informed of Ankita’s disappearance, went on leave without reporting it. Pratap was later suspended and also arrested for negligence.