Refused ‘special services’, thrown into canal: Ankita Bhandari's brutal murder that shook Uttarakhand

Claims that Arya had pressured Ankita to offer "special services" to guests - a term used to suggest prostitution - shocked the public even more.

Three men have been given life sentences for the heinous 2022 murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari in Uttarakhand.

Her distraught family, however, claims that justice is still lacking.

A Kotdwar court, on Friday, found Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, guilty of the murder of Ankita, a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar, along with resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta.

The three were given strict life sentences and fined by the court Rs 72,000 for Arya and Rs 62,000 for Bhaskar and Gupta.

Soni Devi, Ankita's mother, claimed that the lower court's decision only provided a partial remedy. "A bigger battle is yet to be fought," she said with tears in her eyes. "This pain can only be understood by a mother. Until these men are executed, I won't stop.

Timeline of a brutal murder that rocked the hills

Only a few weeks prior to her murder on September 18, 2022, Ankita had started working at the resort. The prosecution claims that on the evening of the incident, she and the accused got into a fight. Then, in the hopes that her body would never be discovered, Arya and his friends forced her into the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh, states a NDTV report.

Six days later, it was. She drowned, according to a post-mortem, but not before suffering several injuries that were consistent with physical assault.

The investigation was initially conducted improperly, as per the report.

The filing of a proper FIR was delayed because the Vanantra Resort was under the jurisdiction of the revenue police, not the regular police. The authorities finally took action as a result of growing suspicion and public pressure.

Uttarakhand erupted in anger.

Locals attacked police cars transporting the accused and damaged the resort.

The state quickly swung into action and demolished the illegal resort, kicked Vinod Arya out of the BJP, and sent the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after receiving harsh criticism.

In the meantime, Ankita's family was offered Rs 25 lakh in compensation.

Claims that Arya had pressured Ankita to offer "special services" to guests - a term used to suggest prostitution - shocked the public even more.

After Ankita vanished, audio recordings of her conversations with her close friend Pushp came to light, exposing Arya's efforts to control the story.

Despite defending his son as a "simple boy," Vinod Arya was widely criticised. A different criminal complaint later named him.

Ankita's mother also claimed she was deceived into going to a hospital under false pretences, preventing her from attending her daughter's funeral. Her parents maintain that justice is not yet complete despite the life sentence.

"Our daughter was brutally murdered. A life sentence is insufficient. Her father, Virendra Bhandari, declared, "We will appeal this decision in the High Court." He also called for a more thorough investigation into the purported involvement of an unidentified "VIP" and Renu Bisht, a BJP MLA from Yamkeshwar.

To guarantee that Ankita's killers receive the worst punishment possible, the family has vowed to keep fighting.