Kavitha Lankesh shared the apprehension her family felt over justice being served when Bilkis Bano's rapists were given remission.
Published Sep 05, 2022 | 2:32 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 06, 2022 | 12:39 PM
Though a charge sheet was filed by the SIT set up in 2018 to investigate the killing, the trial began only in June this year. (KavithaLankesh/Twitter)
On the fifth anniversary of the killing of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh — who was shot at her house in west Bengaluru by two bike-borne men on 5 September, 2017 — her family is optimistic that justice will be delivered sooner than later.
A change in the judge hearing the trial, however, has put brakes on the process.
Though a charge sheet was filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in 2018 to investigate the killing, the trial began only in June this year.
“Though it took five long years for the trial to begin, we hope to get justice soon as the honourable court has decided to hear the case for five days in a row every month, and it was that way in July and August,” Gauri’s sister Kavitha Lankesh told South First.
It might be recalled that Justice Chandrashekhar Mrutyunjaya Joshi , who was hearing the case, was promoted as a high court Justice, and hearings under a new judge, Justice Ramachandra, were to resume on Monday. With the bench still vacant, the hearing has been postponed to 14 September.
“On 14 September, the court will decide when it will resume the trial. The previous judge was of the view that the trial should end in a year and had sought five days of hearing in a month. While we do not know the view of the new judge, we hope the frequency is continued,” Special Public Prosecutor S Balan told South First.
“If all goes well, the trial should come to an end in little more than a year,” Kavitha said.
With recent developments like the release of the Bilkis Bano murder and gangrape case convicts, the family and Gauri’s friends were somewhat apprehensive — especially as the ruling BJP government in Karnataka did not heed their request that Gauri’s case be heard in a fast-track court.
“It is unfortunate for a victim of gang rape to see her perpetrators go scot-free after committing a heinous crime. Having said that, in Gauri’s murder case, we have hope in the judiciary and that the culprits will be brought to book,” said Kavitha.
“Only after the judgement will we know if justice has been served. We are all humans, and live by hope,” she added.
The SIT submitted its final and additional charge sheet of 9,235 pages in November 2018, and the prosecution has around 300 witnesses to be examined, along with evidence that needs to be produced before the court.
As all 17 accused have been also booked under the stringent Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA), they are denied bail regularly.
The KCOCA, which received the approval of the President on 22 December, 2001, was enacted to make special provisions for the prevention and control of, and for coping with, criminal activity by organised crime syndicates or gangs. In September last year, the Supreme Court overturned a Karnataka High Court order quashing charges under KCOCA against an accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case: Mohan Nayak.
Between 2018 and 2020, the SIT — headed by Investigating Officer MN Anucheth — arrested 17 of the 18 accused in the case.
These were Amol Kale (touted as the mastermind, who identified Gauri as a target and coordinated the murder), Parashuram Waghmore (who shot at Gauri), Amit Baddi, Suresh Kumar, Ganesh Miskin, Rajesh Bangera, Amit Degwekar, Mohan Nayak, KT Naveen Kumar (the first to be arrested in the case), Sujeeth Kumar, Manohar Edave, Bharath Kurne, Sharad Kalaskar, Shrikanth Pangarkar, Sudhanva Gondalekar, Rishikesh Dewerkar, and Vasudev Suryavamshi.
The missing piece in the puzzle is Nihal alias Dada, who is still absconding. The SIT has not been able to find the actual murder weapon as well.
“Every time we arrested one accused, they identified someone else as Nihal alias Dada (big brother), leading us to dead ends,” an officer from the SIT told South First.
The team, in its charge sheet, named the right-wing radical organisation Sanatan Sanstha as a link between the accused.
During the investigation, the SIT was also able to crack the murder case of scholar MM Kalburgi and uncover a sinister plan to eliminate other vocal writers like KS Bhagawan.
