“With garlands, Gauri killers emboldened them”: Kavitha Lankesh

Two days after being released on bail, two of the accused – Parshuram Waghmore, who was reportedly the one who shot Gauri, and Manohar Yadave – were welcomed by local members of the Sri Ram Sena with garlands, orange scarves and songs celebrating after returning to his hometown in Vijayapura, Karnataka.

Soon another shocking incident took place when Srikanth Pangarkar was accused of murder joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Jalna, Maharashtra.

Kavitha also said that since the Congress has issued an announcement, they should go a step ahead and file a first information report (FIR) against those who honored the accused. “Their motive must be questioned. And we know what the motive is. He says you are Hindutva heroes,” she remarked.

Gauri used to write extensively against the growing Hindu right-wing nationalism; through her work, she challenged the system and the status quo.

Talking about the chain of events that ultimately led to Gauri’s murder, Kavitha said:

“I think it was her constant fight against Hindutva, one of the speeches, a lot of things came together. It was every day that she fought against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and right-wing ideology all the time. The last thing was apparently a speech she made in Mangalore that was completely misunderstood.”

All the accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indian Arms Act and Karnataka Control of Organized Crime Act, 2000.

On September 4 this year, ahead of the 7th anniversary of Gauri’s murder, four more accused – Bharat Kurane, Srikanth Pangarkar, Sujith Kumar and Sudhanva Gondhalekar – were again released on bail due to delay in trial.

July 16 this year Accused KT Naveen Kumar, Suresh HL and Amit Degwekar were also released on bail. The petitioners have relied on the Supreme Court’s order dated December 7, 2023, wherein it granted first bail to N. Mohan Nayak in the case.

He also claimed that the prosecutor’s office called 527 witnesses, but only 130 witnesses has been under consideration since the trial began in July 2022.