Congress leaders meet parents of murdered Uttarakhand woman amid governor appointment controversy

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra travelled to India Gate on Wednesday to speak with the parents of Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old who was killed in Uttarakhand in September 2022. Virendra Singh Bhandari and Soni Devi, who have been protesting near the monument, asked President Droupadi Murmu to hold off on confirming Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the new governor of Sikkim until the Central Bureau of Investigation finishes its inquiry.

The father explicitly called for Gautam’s removal, while the mother appealed to the President’s empathy as a woman. The family warned they would commence a hunger strike outside the Uttarakhand chief minister’s office if their request is not met. The murder case led to life-term convictions for resort owner Pulkit Arya and two accomplices, but political controversy persists over unproven allegations that a VIP, named by the family as Gautam, was involved. Gautam has denied any wrongdoing and has launched defamation proceedings against his accusers.