CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Amid the uproar over the girl student’s murder in Karnataka’s Hubbali, Chief Minister Siddarmaiah on Saturday countered the ‘Love Jihad’ arguments and accused the BJP of “using the issue for politics.”
The incident wherein Neha Hiremath, daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of her college sparked a political slugfest in the state after BJP alleged ‘Love Jihad’ angle.
The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently.
Home Minister G Parameshwara had claimed that both the accused and victim were in a relationship, which went sour. He added that the accused stabbed the girl after she tried to distance herself from him. “The love jihad angle is not seen as of now. He might have feared her marrying someone else, the details are not known yet,” Parameshwara said.
However, the girl’s father Niranjan Hiremath stuck to the love jihad angle, putting the state Congress leadership in a fix. “If this is not Love Jihad, then what is?” Niranjan Hiremath asked, hitting out at the state leadership.
“The gang had conspired for a long time. They had planned either to trap her or to execute her. They have been threatening her in that backdrop. However, the girl had not heeded their threats,” Mr Hiremath told the media. “The whole state and country witnessed what happened to my daughter. If they say that it is personal, what is personal in this? Are they my relatives?” he added.