Gauri Lankesh’s murderer accused felicitated by Karnataka right-wing group

In yet another display of bigotry, a right-wing Hindutva fringe group felicitated the murderers of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka on Saturday.

Three accused of her murder were reportedly released on bail by a special court for organised crimes on October 10. 

Few far-right-wing fringe groups, including the Shree Ram Sena, accorded them a hero’s welcome in Vijayapura.

The members of the group garlanded Parashuram Waghmore and Manohar Edave, two among those incarcerated for killing Lankesh in 2017.

With a court approval to travel to their ‘native place’, the duo reportedly spent a busy day in Vijayanagara attending events including offering their prayers at a temple and tributing a statue.

Lankesh was shot dead on the evening of September 5, 2017, outside her residence in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

Popular among her ideological affiliates, Lankesh voiced against right-wing extremism and wrote undeterred pieces against its growth across the country.

Bike-borne assailant Waghmore, along with his accomplice Ganesh Miskin, fired multiple rounds of bullets at the journalist, causing her death.

A special investigation team (SIT) formed by Karnataka Police arrested 17 linked to a group called Sanatan Sanstha for her murder in 2018. While eight remain imprisoned, 11 have been granted bail in relation to the case.