Karnataka BJP leader and Mandya MP, Sumalatha Ambareesh, expressed her concern and sadness over the murder of the Karnataka Congress corporator’s daughter in Hubbali. She told ANI, “It’s very unfortunate. Nobody can predict anything like this happening, but the very fact that these culprits are going unpunished is going to lead to more such incidents in the future. That’s what is very, very worrisome.”
The victim, Neha Hiremath, daughter of Congress Corporator Niranjan Hiremath, succumbed to multiple stab wounds inflicted by Fayaz, a former friend and classmate who has since been arrested.
The last rites of the twenty-four-year-old daughter of a Congress corporator, who was killed on the college campus in Hubbali, were performed by her parents on Friday.
The Congress government in Karnataka is facing severe criticism for its handling of law and order in the state after the daughter of a Congress corporator was stabbed to death on a college campus in Hubbali.
The state unit of the ABVP and the BJP protested the murder in Hubballi and Bengaluru on Friday and the issue is likely to flare up with the state going to the Lok Sabha Polls on April 26 and May 7.
Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar informed that an FIR had been registered and the accused had been apprehended within an hour. The accused has been sent to judicial custody, she added. “FIR has been registered in this case and the accused was also secured within an hour. He has been sent to judicial custody. It is a very serious case and we are investigating. In the course of the investigation, everything will come to light,” the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner said.
The Leader of the Opposition of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, R Ashoka, on Friday, termed the Hubbali college campus murder as shameful and raised questions about the law and order situation in the state. “The incident in Hubli is shameful. The daughter of a Congress corporator has been stabbed to death. Such an incident in the middle of elections raises questions about law and order,” he said.
Karnataka state BJP President BY Vijayendra took on the state government, accusing them of going slow on the case to appease a certain faction. “In a horrific incident, a 24-year-old girl, daughter of a Congress corporator has been has been hacked to death in broad daylight by Fiyaz, reportedly for refusing his marriage proposal. Guarantee of Safety” for Women has been pathetically absent since Congress came into power. Repeated incidents of crimes against women like assaults and murder raises concerns about the seriousness of the Siddaramaiah government in providing a safe environment for our sisters and daughters. Women have been highly vulnerable under this incapable government and have been living under extreme fear as Criminal elements have been on the rise and are operating without any fear of law and order,” Vijayendra said.
However, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the Hubballi campus murder occurred due to personal reasons. The CM added that the law and order situation in Karnataka is good and that they must maintain it. “Whatever murder happened was 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,” the CM said.
Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said the law will be applied to all. “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 the governor’s rule in the state. They cannot do it. The law will take its own course for everyone,” Shivakumar said.
Karnataka’s Home Minister, G Parameshwar, denied the presence of a communal angle in the Hubballi campus murder case and dismissed the allegations of ‘love jihad’. “It appears there was mutual love between the two. However, when the girl started walking away, the boy stabbed her. I fail to see any evidence of “love jihad” here. It seems that he (the accused) believed she was going to marry someone else. I don’t know all the details,” he said.