Parents of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered in 2022 at a resort in Uttarakhand, staged a sit‑in at India Gate on Wednesday, demanding accountability. The protest drew a visit from Rahul Gandhi, who met the grieving family amid the chaotic crowd. The family’s anger is a raw reminder that justice can feel like a distant promise.
Dhami’s government said the accused were taken to jail within 24 hours of the crime, and a Special Investigation Team was set up to probe the case. A charge sheet of around 500 pages, built on statements from roughly 100 witnesses, forced the court to deny bail repeatedly, ultimately sentencing the killers to life imprisonment. The government insists that its actions “worked with utmost seriousness from day one” to secure punishment.
The state also handed the family Rs 25 lakh in compensation, and secured government posts for Ankita’s brother and father. Dhami ordered a CBI inquiry after the parents demanded a federal probe, and he replaced the public prosecutor three times to align with the family’s wishes. These gestures are meant to show that the state prioritised the victims’ sentiments.
Opposition leaders in Parliament and a journalist named Ashutosh Negi were accused of muddying the waters by repeatedly raising the alleged “VIP” status of the accused. Dhami warned that spreading unverified claims only politicises the case, and the state’s statement called for any concrete evidence to be presented within investigative agencies and courts.
The CBI has been asked to take over the investigation, and the family’s next move will be to file a petition to the Supreme Court for a review of the life‑sentence decision. If the court upholds the verdict, the murderers will remain behind bars indefinitely, marking a rare instance of swift justice in the region.