The cold blooded killing of Gauri Lankesh—an activist-journalist, a writer on social issues and a strong critic of extremism , has shocked the nation. Lankesh was hit by three bullets outside her house in Bengaluru by unidentified assailants on Tuesday evening. This incident has again raised the question of safety of journalists. In 2015, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) dubbed India as "Asia's deadliest country" for media personnel, ahead of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to the report, in 2015 alone nine journalists were killed. India embarrassingly ranks 137 in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, falling three positions since 2016.