Members of BJP’s women’s wing Mahila Morcha held a candlelight vigil here on Tuesday, demanding justice for 23-year-old Neha Hiremath who was stabbed to death inside her college campus in Hubballi last week. The women activists gathered in large numbers near Freedom Park for a condolence meeting for Neha and also staged a demonstration to condemn the crime.
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Demanding a CBI inquiry into the murder, the protestors also sought capital punishment for the accused. Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, who is contesting in the Lok Sabha election from Bengaluru North seat also joined the protest.
Accusing the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government of being responsible for the “deteriorating law and order” in the state, the protestors alleged that the brutal murder of Neha inside the college campus shows how unsafe women are in Karnataka. “Our demand is that the accused in the Neha murder case should be hanged at the earliest,” BJP District President (Bangalore North) S Harish told PTI.
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“Women have no protection under this current government,” he claimed, adding, “In broad day light, people are being murdered. Law and order has deteriorated. We don’t know if our daughter who goes to college will come back or not. That is the scenario in the state today. We have demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident and want a thorough investigation into this case.”
Meanwhile, in Hubballi, BJP’s student wing ABVP held a torchlight march from BVB college to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, demanding justice for Neha and seeking a CBI probe into the crime. Neha Hiremath (23), was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College last Thursday.
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The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled from the scene, was arrested by the police subsequently. Neha was a first year Master of Computer Applications (MCA) student and Fayaz was earlier her classmate. The crime sparked widespread condemnation and protests, and snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP in Karnataka.
While the ruling party attributed the motive of the murder to a personal angle, the saffron party labelled it a case of ‘love jihad’ and claimed it points to the alleged deterioration of law and order in the state. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday announced that his government has decided to hand over the investigation to the Crime Investigation Department, and set up a special court for speedy disposal of the case.
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