Why murder of Neha Hiremath, Karnataka Cong corporator's daughter, has triggered a ‘love jihad’ row

The case of 23-year-old has shocked the country.

The daughter of Karnataka Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death with a knife on the campus of BVB college by a former student after she allegedly rejected his proposal.

The murder has triggered a political row in poll-bound Karnataka, with the ruling Congress claiming “a personal angle,” and the Opposition BJP suspecting the case of “love jihad.”

Here’s all we know about the case.

The murder

The incident occurred around 5 pm on Thursday and was captured on CCTV.

In the footage, Neha Hiremath, a first-year Master of Computer Applications (MCA) student at KLE Technological University in Hubballi, was seen walking backward and engaging in a brief conversation with Fayaz Khondunaik until he violently approaches her and begins stabbing her repeatedly, as per News18.

According to an NDTV report which cited the police, the victim had known her attacker, Fayaz, who also attended the same college but later dropped out.

Following the attack, she was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead upon arrival. The last rites of the girl were performed by her parents on Friday.

Fayaz fled from the scene after committing the crime and was subsequently arrested by the police. The accused is already in judicial custody.

“The accused had fled, but we arrested him in under 90 minutes. Other students have told us that Neha and the accused knew each other and had studied together. We will know more once the accused’s interrogation is done,” Hubballi Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar said on Friday, according to News18.

As per Hindustan Times, the accused told the police that he had stabbed Neha multiple times because they were in a relationship and she had been avoiding him of late.

The alleged ‘love jihad angle’

The victim’s family, however, claimed that Fayaz killed Neha as she declined her marriage proposal.

Congress corporator and father of the victim, Niranjan Hiremath claimed that his daughter met with the unfortunate fate and was killed for turning down the accused’s proposal.

Speaking to ANI on 19 April, Niranjan said, “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 the news agency.

According to The New Indian Express, Niranjan urged the police to investigate the “love jihad” angle by saying, “I demand everyone to get justice for my little daughter. I have asked the police to investigate the ‘love jihad’ angle as well. I have asked BJP leaders to help me get justice. I will not rest until the accused is hanged. Such incidents should not happen,” he said.

The father of the victim on Sunday said that his daughter’s murder was pre-planned and that there were invisible hands behind the heinous act.

“My daughter had rejected Fayaz’s proposals. A few people incited Fayaz against Neha. The police should probe into the conspiracy behind the murder,” he urged, as per Deccan Herald.

Meanwhile, several Muslim religious heads and Anjuman e Islam office-bearers, including former MLA AM Hindasgeri, visited the victim’s residence, Mint reported.

“We have decided in the presence of Mutavallis, that no Muslim lawyer in Hubballi-Dharwad should defend the assailant. The Muslim community will stand with the Hiremath family till the accused is punished,” Hindasgeri asserted.

The political row

The incident that took place in a broad day light has snowballed into a political slugfest, with the Congress trying to project it as an “incident with a personal angle,” and the BJP suspecting “love jihad” angle.

According to Hindustan Times, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra said that prima facie, it appears to be a case of love jihad. He said that Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah was trying to protect 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. Women across the state are questioning the state government,” he said.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, meanwhile claimed that the case is of ’love jihad’ but the state government does not want to investigate the matter, according to ANI.

“He (deceased’s father) is a corporator. For vote bank politics, suppressing and hushing up is their (Congress) policy. This is all happening due to that…There is a ’love jihad’ but they do not want to investigate that. The father himself is saying that this is being hushed up,” he said on Saturday.

While CM Siddaramaiah said that the murder of Congress corporator’s daughter is not a case of “love jihad” as alleged by the BJP.

Condemning the incident, the Chief Minister told mediapersons, “This is not a case of love jihad. I condemn the incident. We have arrested the culprit, the investigation is going on seriously and we will punish the culprit. We have taken care of law and order seriously to maintain peace and harmony. BJP is using this issue for politics, it is condemnable that a political party (BJP) is using the murder of a girl for political purposes.”

On Friday, he had said, according to Mint, “Whatever 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.”

Demand for CBI probe

The victim’s father, while speaking to ANI, said that he has given the names of eight people openly but not even one person has been caught.

He further said, “I am losing faith now. They are trying to divert my case. Give it to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if you cannot do it… The commissioner in this case is a lady, even then she is not taking a girl’s murder seriously… She is working under some pressure… I demand the commissioner should be transferred for negligence in the case… I demand that the case should be given to CBI.”

BJP national president JP Nadda yesterday reiterated the demand for CBI probe during his visit to the victim’s residence on Sunday where he offered them condolences.

While speaking with the reporters, the BJP chief alleged that the state government was trying to influence the probe to dilute the case.

“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… even 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,” he said.

Additionally, the Karnataka women’s commission chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary also visited Neha’s residence and assured justice to her family.

Speaking to PTI, Choudhary said, “I made them be strong and also told them not to allow anyone to use this incident for their selfish input or politicising it, because then it will be like insulting Neha. If we are really worried about her, we all have to strongly support and allow the police to do a free investigation and as early as possible, we have to get justice for Neha.”

Shedding light on the latest development, she said that the evidence in the case has been collected and that justice will be served to the victim soon after the reports of the DNA investigation are out.

Call for bandh

The Karnataka unit of the ABVP and the BJP, in condemnation of the murder, staged a massive protest in Hubballi and Bengaluru on Friday. The issue is also likely to flare up with the state going to the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on 26 April and 7 May.

The incident has brought the BJP and Muslim organisations on the same side, with both calling for a “bandh” on Monday.

Taking to X, BY Vijayendra called on BJP workers to set aside election work and take to the streets on Monday. He wrote, “In the hustle and bustle of elections, we cannot ignore the case of cruelty to girls, blasphemy and attacks on national devotees. The killing of Neha Hiremath of Hubballi is the most brutal incident. It is the demand of the public that the police should investigate this from all angles.”

Muslim groups will also be holding a protest to offer their condolences, said Dharwad based Anjuman-e-Islam president Esmail Tamatgar.

“Tomorrow we will observe bandh. Chicken shops, garage workshops, fruit vendors, banks, institutions will remain closed to condole the death and show our solidarity with the family. We will put up ‘Justice for Neha’ stickers at our shops,” he said, as per The Times of India.

Accused’s family apologises

Meanwhile, the father of the accused has apologised to the victim’s family and said that Fayaz should receive severe punishment.

Baba Saheb Subani, Fayaz’s father, who is a school teacher, told media on Saturday that he learnt about the incident around 6 pm on Thursday and was completely shocked and shattered with his son’s act.

“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, adding that Neha’s family had called him to inform that Fayaz had been troubling.

In contradiction to the victim’s family’s claims, Fayaz’s parents said that the two were in a relationship.

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

The accused’s mother Mumtaz also claimed that Neha initiated the relationship, according to TOI. She added that she knew about it since last year.

“Neha was a good girl,” she said and acknowledged the severity of her son’s crime, saying, “He should be punished severely.”

In response to the claims, the 23-year-old deceased’s mother Geetha and her husband dismissed claims of an affair and demanded justice for their daughter.

“The accused should be hanged. There was no relationship between the two,” Geetha said, while the father said, “My daughter never thought about it.”

With inputs from agencies