The media on Saturday 8 April 2017, announced that noted social activist and lawyer Satish Sonak had collapsed in JFMC court at Patto on 7 April 2017, of a heart attack and could not be revived when admitted to Goa Medical College. He was only 59 years old. He led a hectic life and on 7 April 2017, he was supposed to appear at the Goa Human rights commission at 11.30 am for fighting the case of lamanis .
Satish Sonak was well known in Goa as a student leader, social activist, and had fought numerous Human Rights cases with the Goa Human rights commission. It is idealistic leaders like Satish Sonak, which ensure that panaji, is one of the better towns in India, where citizens can express their views freely without being labelled as a security threat.
Paying tribute to Satish Sonak, the lawyer activist Aires Rodrigues on HCN said that Satish Sonak was a simple and idealistic man, who was probably the only well known lawyer in Goa, who did not own a four wheeler. Though Herald and Times of India carried a report on Satish Sonak, and HCN also carried the news of the funeral, surprisingly a major newspaper in Goa did not carry any news of the tragic death of Satish Sonak . There is probably more to the story, than the media has reported