Remembering Gauri Lankesh: Three years on, family awaits justice

Bengaluru, Sep 05: Today marks the third death anniversary of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh who was shot dead outside her Bengaluru residence on 5 September 2017.

The 55-year-old was shot dead from point-blank range by unidentified assailants outside her residence in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.

The men fired at least seven bullets at her at around 8 p.m. while she was unlocking the main door of her house after returning from her office.

One of the killers, who was waiting for her near her house, fired the first shots at her, while the two others, who are suspected to have followed her from her office, joined the initial shooter thereafter.

The killers were wearing helmets and escaped on a two-wheeler Honda Dio after the murder. Three of the bullets pierced Gauri's head, neck, and chest, resulting in her death at the scene.

The brutal murder sparked a nationwide outrage from civil rights activists and journalists, as it was similar to those of rationalists Narendra Dabohlkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi.

In 2018, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case detained two suspects, whom they also suspected of being involved in the murders of Dabholkar and Kalburgi.

In June 2018, the SIT stated that Parashuram Waghmore had confessed to the murder: he claimed that he was told to kill someone to save his religion, and that he did not know who the victim was.

In September 2018, Maharashtra ATS detained 2 suspects related to her murder and also recovered cache of arms from them.

She worked as an editor in Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh, and ran her own weekly called Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She was shot to death by assailants outside her home in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on 5 September 2017. At the time of her death, Gauri was known for being a critic of right-wing Hindu extremism. She was honored with Anna Politkovskaya Award for speaking against right-wing Hindu extremism, campaigning for women's rights and opposing caste based discrimination.