Did Gauri Lankesh's vitriolic writing cost her her life? Well, if you go by a statement made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former minister Jeevaraj at a meeting in Koppa Taluk of Chikkamagaluru, he said that if only Gauri had not written about the celebration of the "death" of the Sangh Parivar, she would probably have been alive today.

Jeevaraj, while addressing a public meeting of BJP party workers, said several RSS workers have lost their lives in this Congress-ruled state. The Siddaramaiah government has not initiated any action against those who murdered 11 BJP-Sangh Parivar members till date.

India Today has exclusively accessed the video where Jeevaraj says: "During the Congress government we have seen how RSS workers have lost their lives. Gauri Lankesh had written in her paper about 'chaddigala marana homa' or the slaughter of the RSS. Now if Gauri Lankesh had refrained from writing articles like that she would have probably been alive today. Gauri is like a sister to me but the way she has written against us (BJP and Sangh), it is unacceptable".

Gauri Lankesh's sister Kavita Lankesh too in an interview to India Today said she believes that "it was Gauri's thinking and ideology that caused her death".

Kavita did say that Gauri spoke her mind and at times Kavita felt that her sister Gauri was foolishly fearless.

Also read:

How Gauri Lankesh's siblings stand divided after her murder

Why Gauri Lankesh's brother thinks both Naxal, Hindu extremist angles should be looked into