Ankita Bhandari's parents briefly detained during protest at Delhi's India Gate, mother threatens hunger strike
Here's the latest protest news from across India:
The parents of Ankita Bhandari were detained on Thursday during their sit-in protest at India Gate in Delhi against the appointment of former Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim. They were rolled out later.
Adding to this, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meet the parents of Ankita Bhandari, protesting against the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor. (ANI) The parents of the 19-year-old receptionist, who was murdered in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district in September 2022, have demanded that Gautam’s appointment be put on hold until the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged VIP angle in the case is completed.
Meanwhile, On Wednesday evening, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi met the parents near India Gate and joined them during their sit-in protest.
Notably, Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed police taking Bhandari’s mother into custody. After being detained, she shared she would begin a hunger strike at their home if the authorities did not allow them to protest.
As per the latest buzz, "We want to state that we will remain steadfast until his (Dushyant Gautam) appointment is revoked... If we are not permitted to sit here, we will sit on a hunger strike in our own homes," she shared.
In further updates, Her father shared, “We give the government a 24-hour ultimatum: the appointment of Dushyant Kumar as the Governor of Sikkim must be cancelled. If it is not revoked, the people across the entire country will take to the streets, and the government will be held responsible.”
On top of that, Activist Yogita Bhayana also joined the protest, where Ankita’s parents appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to intervene and ensure that all allegations related to the case were investigated.
Expressing support for the parents, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of protecting a “VIP” accused in the case. In a post on X, he shared the family had been waiting for justice for four years, alleging that the accused had instead received protection and a constitutional post. “I and the Congress Party stand with them — in their grief as well as in this fight for justice,” he shared.
Source: Hindustan Times