Neha Hiremath's Murder in Hubballi Sparks Love Jihad Debate, What's The Full Controversy?

New Delhi: Karnataka remains on boil 4 days after a student was brutally stabbed within the college premises, as the family alleges love-jihad angle in the case while the state authorities and the Congress leaders are projecting it as an incident with a personal angle. 

The murder case has snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP. While the ruling party has tried to project it as an incident with a personal angle, the saffron party has called it a "love jihad" case and said it's a testimony of the deterioration of law and order in the state.

What Happened in Karnataka? 

Neha, the daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death by her former classmate Fayaz Khondunaik on the campus of BVB College on April 18. 

Neha Hiremath was allegedly killed by her acquaintance inside BVB college campus on Thursday after she allegedly rejected his proposal. The deceased Neha (23) was a first-year MCA student, while the accused 23-year-old Fayaz, a BCA dropout, has been arrested in connection with the incident, police said, adding that both of them were batchmates during their BCA course. 

The entire incident was caught on CCTV camera. The Police arrested Fayaz who has been remanded in judicial custody. 

Fayaz Stabbed Neha 6-7 Times: Karnataka Police 

According to the police, Fayaz went inside the college campus with a knife and stabbed Neha six-seven times. During the attack, he too sustained injuries and was shifted to the hospital along with the victim. At the hospital, Neha was declared brought dead.

"During interrogation, he (Fayaz) claimed that the two of them had been in a relationship and that she had suddenly started avoiding him. It needs to be corroborated and verified, but he was arrested immediately," a senior police officer said.

Love-Jihad: Niranjan Herimath vs Congress 

Neha’s father Niranjan Herimath while speaking exclusively to Republic asserted that he suspects a love-jihad angle in the case, alleging that parents of accused Fayaz were “provoking Neha to convert to Islam.” 

“After what I have seen, this case has every symptoms of Love Jihad. This is not a simple case that the police can solve within a few days...there are many people involved in this,” said Neha's father to Republic. He demanded a CBI probe in the case alleging that the state police were trying to “divert” the case under someone's direction. 

He demanded the Police to investigate Fayaz's parents as well. "It has come to my knowledge that Fayaz's parents told their son to bring Neha or else kill her. I will file a complaint against Fayaz's parents on charges of provoking Neha to get converted to Islam," the Congress leader said. He said that the family of the accused is spreading photos of Neha and Fayaz, adding that the photos "were taken at college functions."

He also alleged that the probe is being diverted. “I have given the names of 8 people openly. They have not even caught one person. I am losing faith now. They are trying to divert my case. Give it to CBI if you cannot do it,” said the deceased's father. 

However, the Congress government in the state said that the murder was committed due to personal reasons, brushing aside the love-jihad allegations. "Whichever murder happened is due to personal reasons. The law and order situation is very good in Karnataka, It is our duty to maintain law and order and we are doing it..." said Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah. 

While his deputy, DK Shivakumar alleged that the BJP is consipiring to impose Governor's Rule in the state citing poor law and order situation. "BJP is trying to threaten by showing that there is no law and order in Karnataka. Karnataka has the best law and order. They are just trying to tell the voters that they are going to put Governor's rule in the state. They cannot do it. The law will take its own course for everyone..." said Shivakumar 

JP Nadda Meets Neha’s Father, Supports CBI Probe Demand 

On Sunday, BJP national president JP Nadda met Neha Hiremath's father Niranjan and offered condolences. J P Nadda also demanded a CBI probe into the murder of 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath.

"If the state government wants, they can refer the case to CBI and BJP will cooperate so that this innocent girl gets justice, humanity gets justice and such incidents do not recur in future. Eeven her father has demanded for a CBI probe because he doesn't have faith in the state police and wants the investigation into the murder of his daughter to be transferred to the CBI," Nadda said after meeting Niranjan Herimath at his residence.

“Look at the statements of Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara. Some say it’s a normal incident, others call it an accident. You want to influence and dilute the investigation. You don’t have the courage to call a spade a spade due to your appeasement politics,” Nadda alleged, addressing a public meeting here in Hubballi.

What Fayaz’s Parents Had to Say? 

While Fayaz’s family is claiming that the two were in a relationship, the victim’s family has maintained that their daughter was not in a relationship with Fayaz and said the accused stabbed Neha because she rejected his proposal.

Demanding maximum punishment for his son, Baba Saheb Subani, a school teacher, said, "He (Fayaz) should be punished in a way that no one dares to do such a thing in future. With folded arms, I apologise to Neha's family members. She was like my daughter. Subani said that he and his wife have been living separately for the past six years and that Fayaz stayed with his mother and called him whenever he needed money. He last spoke to his son about three months ago.

Fayaz's father recalled that around eight months ago, Neha's family had called him to inform that his son was troubling their daughter. Admitting that his son made a mistake, he claimed that Fayaz and Neha loved each other and were in a relationship.

Fayaz's mother had earlier sought forgiveness over her son's act. "On behalf of my son, I seek forgiveness from all people of Karnataka. I seek forgiveness from the parents of the girl as well. She is also like my daughter. I am not differentiating here at all. I know how they must be grieving. I am equally sorrowful.  What my son did is wrong. No matter who it is, what is done is wrong," Mumtaz, Fayaz's mother, said.

BJP Holds State-Wide Protest

The BJP unit of Karnataka held a state-wide protest over the case on Monday. The party staged a protest against the state's Congress government alleging that "appeasement politics" was responsible for the incident. It also highlighted a series of incidents such as the bomb blast in Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, attack on youths for chanting Jai Sri Ram, and reciting Hanuman Chalisa among others. 

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 also led the protests in Belagavi where he is fighting the election on a BJP ticket. In Hubballi and Dharwad, BJP MLAs Arvind Bellad and Mahesh Tenginkai conducted the protests.

Protesters took out a march, raised slogans 'Long Live Neha Hiremath' and staged sit-in demonstrations holding placards and Neha Hiremath's photograph. They burnt tyres in the middle of the road to express their anger.

The Anjuman-e-Islam, Dharwad observed a bandh for half-a-day from 10 am to 3 pm to condole Neha's murder and express its solidarity towards the bereaved family.

CID to Probe Neha Herimath's Murder Case 

Siddaramaiah announced on April 22 that the probe has been handed over to CID. "We have decided to give it to the CoD (CID). We will set up a special court for it. Charge sheet has to be filed in a time-bound manner and the case has to be disposed off, so the special court," Siddaramaiah said. Responding to a question from a reporter, he said, "I have not been able to go to her (parent's) residence. Our district in-charge Minister and party workers had gone. Also H K Patil (Law Minister) is going. I will go when I go there (Hubballi)."