Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949), was the sole assassin of
Mahatma Gandhi, shooting Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range in
New Delhi on 30 January 1948. Godse, an advocate of
Hindu nationalism, from
Pune,
Maharashtra, who thought Gandhi favored the political demands of India's
Muslims during the
partition of India, plotted the assassination with
Narayan Apte and six others. After a trial that lasted over a year, Godse was sentenced to death on 8 November, 1949. Although pleas for commutation were made by India's prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru and by Gandhi's two sons on the grounds that a death sentence would dishonour Gandhi, who was opposed to all forms of violence, Godse was hanged a week later.