'What was the hurry to conduct her last rites at night': Ankita Bhandari's mother now fears for her son's safety

Dehradun, September 27

An inconsolable Soni Devi, the mother of the 19-year-old receptionist allegedly murdered by a BJP leader’s son in Uttarakhand, on Monday said she was not allowed to look at her daughter’s face one last time before she was “hurriedly” cremated by the authorities in the dead of the night.

“They have done injustice to a mother. What was the hurry to conduct her last rites at night? Why couldn’t they have waited for one more day?” Soni said as many gathered at the family’s native village Shrikot to offer their condolence.

Ankita Bhandari’s body was found in the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh on September 24, six days after her parents found her missing from her room. She was killed allegedly by her employer.

Soni said she was kept at the hospital and came to know about her daughter’s last rites when she was asked to head to the cremation ground. She said her family had refused to perform the last rites until they received the final post-mortem report.

The victim’s mother added that the government forced the family to conduct the last rites.

Demanding capital punishment for her daughter’s killers, Soni also expressed fear for the safety of her son.

The victim worked at the Vanantara resort in Pauri district’s Yamkeshwar block owned by Haridwar BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya. Pulkit and two other employees have been arrested in the case.