Rahul hit out at BJP over Ankita's murder, in which resort owner Pulkit Arya, the son of now-expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, is the prime accused.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the only reason why Ankita Bhandari, the 19-year-old resort receptionist who was killed in Uttarakhand, was dead “because she refused to be a prostitute”.
Hitting out at the BJP over the teenager’s murder, in which resort owner Pulkit Arya, the son of now-expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, is the prime accused, Rahul Gandhi said: “A country that treats its women as second class citizens is doomed to failure. The ideology of the BJP and the RSS views its women as objects and second class citizens. The most disgusting and most shameful example, and I am talking about what happened in Uttarakhand.”
“A BJP leader whose son ran a hotel was forcing a young girl, who worked as a receptionist in that hotel, to become a prostitute. There are messages on her WhatsApp where she is saying - ‘I refuse to become a prostitute’. They were offering her 10-15,000 rupees to become a prostitute. When this sister of ours refused to become a prostitute, she was found dead in a lake,” he added.
Earlier today, the Congress said the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all BJP leaders on the murder of the receptionist of a resort in Uttarakhand shows their insensitivity. It also questioned the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the case and said the party does not have faith in the police investigation.
The body of Ankita Bhandari (19), who worked at the Vanantara resort in Uttarakhand's Pauri district, was found in the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh on Saturday, six days after her parents reported her missing.
She was allegedly killed by Pulkit Arya, resort owner and former BJP leader and state minister Vinod Arya's son, and two other employees when she resisted their attempts to offer "special services" to customers. Pulkit and his two accomplices have been arrested in the case.
The Congress said that the delay on the part of the police in registering a missing complaint and in seeking remand of the accused even after arresting them raises doubts. It also alleged that the resort owned by Pulkit Arya was bulldozed to destroy evidence. "Which VIP is the government trying to save," it asked.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary and former chief minister Harish Rawat visited Bhandari's residence in Shrikot village near Srinagar and met her family members. He told her family that he is standing with them in their fight for justice.
During the visit, the villagers gave a memorandum to Rawat seeking financial assistance of Rs 1 crore for the bereaved family and a government job for one of its members. Besides, they sought that a road and school be named after her.
Bhandari's father Virendra supported the demands of the villagers. He demanded that the culprits be hanged after being tried in a fast-track court.
Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar on Sunday assured the victim's family that the police will produce enough evidence in court to hang her killers.
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 "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi - File Photo")
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