Murdered Kannada Journalist Gauri Lankesh wanted to donate her eyes after her death.
"It was her wish," to donate eyes, her brother Indrajit Lankesh said on Wednesday. Minto Ophthalmic Hospital completed the procedure as per her wish.
"Her dream was to donate eyes. In this moment of pain, I've found a little relief because a patient got eyesight" because Gauri Lankesh donated her eyes, Indrajit told news agency ANI on Wednesday.
He added: "She was an activist. She was doing her job. There were no threats as far as we know."
Lankesh was killed by unidentified men outside her house on Tuesday, September 5. Known for her fierce writing, she owned Gauri Lankesh Patrike — a left-leaning tabloid — and was an activist for communal harmony.
Born in 1962 to eminent journalist-poet P Lankesh and Indira, her roots were in Konagavalli village in Shivamogga district.
Although they hail from the Lingayat community, her father — an atheist — disaffiliated from the religion. She inherited those values.
She studied in Bengaluru along with siblings Indrajit and Kavitha Lankesh. Gauri Lankesh, by her own admission, was a tomboy. She nurtured ambitions of becoming a doctor, but developed an interested in journalism
The city is currently under high alert and Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar has reportedly asked all DCPs to carry out nakabandi across the city.
"Three special teams set up to crack the case are on the lookout for the suspected assailants. We are taking the movements of people and vehicles at check posts and inter-state borders," the Times of India quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) MN Anucheth as saying.
The 55-year-old journalist was returning home from work on Tuesday and had stepped out of her car to open the gates of her residence when she was shot seven times. Four bullets are said to have hit Lankesh, and neighbours found her lying on the porch around 8 pm.
"A total of seven bullets were fired [at Gauri Lankesh], out of which four missed the target and hit the wall of the house. Three bullets had hit her — two in her chest area and one in the forehead," Suneel Kumar told IANS.
The police are said to have found four empty cartridges on the porch and are also examining CCTV footage.
