Massive uproar in Karnataka after brutal murder amid love jihad allegations

| Updated: 22 April, 2024 3:23 pm IST

Hubbali – Protests and demonstrations hit the streets of Karnataka following the brutal murder of Neha Hiremath, a first-year MCA student and the daughter of Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath on April 18th. The accused, Fayaz, who was her classmate earlier, was arrested by the police minutes after the incident.

The BJP State President B Y Vijayendra led the protests in Mysuru, while the Leader of Opposition R Ashoka and former Chief Minister and Haveri BJP candidate Basavaraj Bommai spearheaded the agitation in Tumakuru and Haveri. Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar led the protests in Belagavi where he is fighting the election on a BJP ticket. Ballari BJP candidate B Sriramulu took part in the agitation in Ballari city.

Neha’s father Niranjan Hiremath had earlier said that Fayaz and his daughter were friends, however, the perpetrator proposed to her, and his daughter rejected the proposal and warned him not to approach her. He also said that his daughter rejected the perpetrator’s proposals and warned him that she would file a complaint if he did not stop. But in complete contradiction, Mumtaz, mother of the accused said that the two were in love with each other and that she knew about it since last year. The incident has also led to a sparring match between the opposition BJP and the ruling Congress over a ‘Love Jihad’ angle in the case.

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Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra said that prima facie, it appears to be a case of love jihad. He claimed that rather than probing the motivation behind the crime, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was trying to protect the culprit. “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”, said BY Vijayendra.

Meanwhile, Muslim organizations have given a call for a ‘bandh’ (strike) on Monday, condemning the murder of 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath. Dharwad-based Anjuman-e-Islam President Esmail Tamatgar said that all the businessmen from the Muslim community will observe bandh from 10 am to 3 pm tomorrow to offer their condolences to the departed soul and protest the brutal incident.

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