‘They Encouraged Gauri’s Killers by Giving Wreaths’: Kavitha Lankesh

Two days after being granted bail, two of the accused – Parshuram Waghmore and Manohar Yadave, said to be the man who shot Gauri – were greeted by local members of the Sri Ram Sena. with wreaths, orange shawls and hymns There was a celebration after they returned to their hometown in Vijayapura, Karnataka.

Another shocking development was that soon after the murder accused Srikanth Pangarkar Joined Shinde-led Shiv Sena In Jalna, Maharashtra.

Kavitha also said that since the Congress has made a statement, they should go a step forward and file a First Information Report (FIR) against those who honored the accused. “Their motive should be questioned. And we know what the motive is. It says you are Hindutva heroes,” he said.

Gauri wrote extensively against rising Hindu right-wing nationalism; He addressed the system and the status quo with his works.

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

“I think it was his constant fight against Hindutva, one of the speeches, a lot of things came together. It was every day that he was always fighting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the right-wing ideology. The last one was his speech in Mangalore, which was apparently completely misunderstood.”

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

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

On July 16 this year, accused KT Naveen Kumar, Suresh HL and Amit Degwekar were also granted bail. These petitioners referred to the Supreme Court’s order dated December 7, 2023, granting initial bail to N Mohan Nayak in the case.

In addition, the prosecution stated that 527 witnesses were testified, but only 130 witnesses It had been under review since July 2022, when the trial began.