Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist and member of the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement, on January 30, 1948, in New Delhi. Godse fired three shots into Gandhi's chest at point-blank range as Gandhi was walking to a prayer meeting in the garden of Birla House, where he was staying. Godse and his co-conspirators were arrested, found guilty of conspiracy to murder, and sentenced to death. He was hanged on November 15, 1949.
