Outspoken Indian journalist shot dead in Bangalore
A prominent left-wing Indian journalist critical of Hindu nationalist politics has been shot dead in the south-western state of Karnataka, police say.
Gauri Lankesh, 55, was found lying in a pool of blood outside her home in the city of Bangalore. The motive for the crime was not immediately clear.
She was shot in the head and chest by gunmen who arrived by motorcycle.
Journalists in India are being increasingly targeted by radical Hindu nationalists, activists say.
Gauri Lankesh, who edited a weekly newspaper, was known as a fearless and outspoken journalist.
Last year, she was convicted in a defamation case over one of her articles. She was appealing against the verdict.
She had returned home in her car on Tuesday night and was opening the gate when the attackers shot her, police said. She died on the spot.
Officials said they suspected she had been under surveillance by the gunmen. An investigation has been opened.
Her death has been widely condemned, with Karnataka state's chief minister Siddaramaiah calling it an "assassination on democracy".
Ms Lankesh came from a well-known family, and edited Lankesh Patrike, a newspaper founded by her father P Lankesh, a left-wing poet and writer.
She was the sister of award-winning filmmaker Kavitha Lankesh.
The veteran journalist had started her own newspaper called Gauri Lankesh Patrike, and last year was convicted of defamation for a report she published on local leaders with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), known for its Hindu nationalist views.
She was sentenced to six months in jail, and was out on bail and appealing the conviction at the time of her death.
'They come on motorbikes, kill, and vanish'
Her killing follows several assassinations of outspoken secularists or rationalists in recent years, including scholar Malleshappa Kalburgi, anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, and politician Govind Pansare.
Noted writer K Marulasiddappa told the BBC: "The attack on the select writers is obviously happening because they are able to mould public opinion... there is a pattern in the way assailants come on motorbikes, kill, and vanish.
"There cannot be any personal reasons attributed to her death because she had no personal enemies. So, the possibility is only political.''
The watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that radical nationalist journalists have targeted other writers, with online smear campaigns and threats of physical reprisals.
"With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of 'anti-national' thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media," the group said.
India ranked 136 out of 180 countries in the group's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Source: BBC
