Murder Of Neha Hiremath Sparks Political Controversy In Karnataka; Accused’s Father Apologizes To Victim’s Family

The tragic murder of Neha Hiremath, the daughter of a Congress councillor in Hubballi, on her college campus has sparked a political controversy in Karnataka ahead of the elections. While the ruling Congress party has asserted that the incident has a personal dimension, the opposition BJP has raised concerns about the possibility of “love jihad” being the motive behind the killing.

Neha, a first-year MCA student at BVB College, was fatally stabbed on campus by Fayaz Khondunaik, who was subsequently apprehended by authorities. According to police reports, the accused confessed to the crime, stating that he attacked Neha due to their alleged relationship and her recent avoidance of him. However, the victim’s family maintains that Neha was murdered because she rejected the accused’s marriage proposal.

The Karnataka BJP president, BY Vijayendra, has voiced suspicions of love jihad in the case. He criticized Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for allegedly prioritizing the protection of the culprit over investigating the underlying motives behind the murder.

“The present Congress government does not care about anything. Earlier, when a blast took place in Mangalore, deputy CM DK Shivakumar said it was a small stray incident and not a terrorist attack. Later when an investigation was carried out, many people were arrested. As far as the Hubballi-Dharwad incident is concerned, it is very unfortunate on the part of the CM. Instead of coming to the rescue of the family, he says the murder took place due to a personal vendetta. Women across the state are questioning the state government,” he said.

Siddaramaiah asserted that Karnataka’s law and order situation remained robust, attributing the murder to personal motives. Niranjan Hiremath, the victim’s father, affirmed that his daughter had indeed rejected the perpetrator’s romantic advances.

“After my daughter was returning from college, an unknown person came and stabbed her seven times and she died on the spot. The accused has already been arrested. The motive of the murder is that the victim rejected the accused’s love proposal. We had a conversation with the accused before the incident took place where we explained to him that we are Hindu and you are Muslim, so we cannot allow you to get married,” he told ANI.

In a development, the father of the accused has extended his apologies to the victim’s family. Baba Saheb Subani, a school teacher and the father of Fayaz, expressed deep shock and sorrow upon learning about the incident around 6 pm on Thursday. He conveyed his profound dismay over his son’s actions.

“He (Fayaz) should be punished in a way that no one dares to do such a thing in future. With folded hands, I apologise to Neha’s family members. She was like my daughter,” he said with tears in his eyes.

He claimed Neha’s family had called him to inform that the man had been troubling. He claimed the duo were in a relationship.

“Fayaz told me he wanted to marry her but I refused it with folded hands,” he added.

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