Women journalists condemn killing of Gauri Lankesh, ask Karnataka government to act

Lankesh, a popular journalist who took stands against Right-wing ideology, was shot several times by some unidentified assailants outside her residence on Tuesday evening.

Karnataka Police have claimed that they have come across some good leads and have also secured CCTV footage, which will help them crack the case.

Her murder bears a resemblance with earlier murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and MM Kalburgi.

Former NDTV journalist, Barkha Dutt, took to Twitter to say: "this is chilling scary and outrageous. So far always took online death & rape threats with a pinch of salt. Now we must all pause &wonder."

Dutt also stated how she received several rape threats but police complaints went in vain. "I did report rape threats i received to the police & in court. No one could trace them. How many times do we go to cops?? #gaurilankesh."

Consulting Editor of The Times of India, Sagarika Ghose, echoed the words of Dutt, saying: "Will the killers be caught Mr @siddaramaiah? Will they be hunted down and brought to justice?"

Journalist of NDTV, Nidhi Razdan, also urged the state government of Karnataka to find out the culprits. "The Karnataka Govt cannot make excuses. They have to find the killers of Gauri Lankesh."

Hoping the Karnataka government would take steps, journalist Madhu Kishwar,‏ said: "I sincerely hope govt will nab culprits fast. #GauriLankeshMurder case won't drag on for years."

Issuing a statement, Editors Guild of India condemned Lankesh's murder and also in a way hinted at a conspiracy by the right wing.

"Gauri Lankesh was a known critic of the Central government on key issues and had fearlessly expressed her views in the newspaper she edited as well as in other forums" the statement reads.

Editors Guild also termed the killing as "a brutal assault on the freedom of the press".

Guild has asked the Karnataka government to find out the culprits.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, has asked to form a SIT to probe the incident following a meeting with top police officials on Wednesday morning.

Gauri Lankesh was an editor in a Kannada weekly Lankesh Patrike. She died at an age of 55.