Draft postmortem report says U'khand teen died due to drowning; family refuses to conduct last rites

Dehradun: The family of a 19-year-old woman receptionist who was killed in Uttarakhand allegedly by her employer refused on Sunday to conduct her last rites until they get the final postmortem details, even as a preliminary report said she died due to drowning.

The draft report released by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, also said antemortem injuries (injuries before death) have been found on Ankita Bhandari’s body, suggestive of a blunt force trauma. However, she died of drowning, said the preliminary report.

Bhandari’s body was recovered from the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh early on Saturday, six days after her parents found her missing from her room. The postmortem was conducted by a four-member team of doctors at AIIMS on Saturday.

The details of injuries and other findings will be given in the final report, said the draft.

Ankita’s father and brother on Sunday refused to perform her last rites until they get the final postmortem report.

“I am not satisfied with the provisional postmortem report. Her last rites will not be performed until we get the final detailed report,” said her father Virendra Singh Bhandari.

Her brother Ajay Singh Bhandari said the provisional report is lacking in detail.

They also spoke against the demolition exercise carried out at the resort where she was working as a receptionist. “It may be an attempt to destroy evidence,” Ajay said.

The woman worked at the Vanantara resort in Pauri district’s Yamkeshwar block owned by Haridwar BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya.

Pulkit and two other employees have been arrested in the case.