1 week ago
12
BENGALURU/HUBBALLI: The murder of a corporator's daughter on a college campus in
Hubballi
sparked a row between
Congress
and opposition BJP in Karnataka, leading to heated responses from the victim's father, who is a member of Congress.
Neha Hiremath
, 23, daughter of Congress Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation corporator Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College Thursday.
The suspect,
Fayaz Khondunaik
, who fled the scene, was later arrested. Neha was a first-year master of computer Applications student. Fayaz was earlier her classmate.
While Congress said the incident was the result of a personal tiff, BJP dubbed it
love jihad
(which it uses to describe cases of allegedly forced inter-faith marriage) and failure of law and order.
BJP's student wing,
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
, also protested, ensuring closure of schools and colleges in Hubballi-Dharwad, while demanding justice and calling for severe punishment for the suspect. Similar protests were reported in other districts, including Belagavi and Bengaluru.
Pralhad Joshi
, Union minister and BJP candidate for Dharwad Lok Sabha seat, said the incident was the result of 'love jihad' and alleged a "complete deterioration of law and order" under the Congress govt. Senior BJP functionary Basavaraj Bommai said the govt must take this very seriously, and a
SIT
(special investigation team) should be formed.
Reacting to the allegations, home minister G Parameshwara said there is no "love jihad" angle to the incident. "As per my information, they were in love. The boy is said to have stabbed the girl as she tried to distance herself from him."
Chief minister Siddaramaiah said personal reasons were behind the murder. "The law-and-order situation in Karnataka is good."
Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said the govt will act as per law, and no one should take law into their hands. "During Bommai's time (as CM), such incidents happened. They were due to personal reasons, but we are very firm in dealing with such types of criminals," he said.
An angry Hiremath lashed out at his party brass saying his daughter was killed for turning down the accused's proposal.
"How can you conclude it happened because of personal reasons? No girl should undergo the trauma my daughter underwent. I feel 'love jihad' is spreading rapidly," he said.
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