Noted journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead at her residence in Rajarajeshwarinagar in the city on Tuesday night. Unidentified assailants shot her dead at her residence, according to the initial accounts by the police. She was 55 years old.
Coming from an eminent family of journalists and theatre persons, she was the daughter of the legendary P Lankesh, who started the influential Lankesh Patrike, the first Kannada tabloid. Her siblings, Kavitha and Indrajit are also films and theatre.
Gauri Lankesh was running a weekly tabloid Gauri Lankesh and was a fierce activist when it came to rights of dalits or the poor. Earlier, she was involved in the rehabilitation of Naxals who were attempting to return to mainstream life.
An anti-establishment figure, she was recently found guilty of defamation against two BJP leaders in Hubballi.
Her killing by shooting is reminiscent of the killings of rationalists M M Kalaburagi in August 2015 and Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013.
In March of this year, Yogesh Master, known as a progressive writer was blackened in the face by right wing activists at a function organised by Gauri in memory of her father.
National Convention of Human Rights Defenders on “Reclaiming Rights and Asserting Freedom” during March 22-23, 2017 in Delhi
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