"I see various cases, and their cruelty is increasing."
The daughter of a Karnataka Congress Councillor was violently stabbed to death by her former classmate after she allegedly rejected his advances.
Neha Hiremath was a student at BVB College in Hubballi.
Fayaz Khondunaik was a former student at the college.
It was reported that he stabbed her several times on the college campus on April 12, 2024, before fleeing the scene.
Khondunaik has since been arrested.
Police believe he killed Neha because she rejected his advances but during questioning, Khondunaik claimed they were in a relationship but she had been avoiding him recently.
The victim’s father, Niranjan Hiremath, claimed she was murdered in a case of “love jihad”.
Claiming the accused stabbed her up to eight times because she turned down his proposal.
Mr Hiremath asked: “If this is not love jihad, then what is?
“Incidents of this sort have been happening. I see various cases, and their cruelty is increasing.
“Why are youngsters going astray? Things have come to a point where I cannot hesitate to say this. Because I know the pain of losing a daughter.
“I have seen in various cases now, of parents losing children. I think this ‘love jihad’ is spreading a lot.”
His comments come as Indians take to the polls for the General Elections.
The BJP and the Congress Party in Karnataka have been engaged in a war of words over Neha’s murder.
While the BJP said it was a case of ‘love jihad’, the Congress Party denied any communal angle to the incident.
Outraged locals have taken to the streets to protest.
Mr Hiremath’s comments are contrary to his party and the Councillor demanded that no bail plea should be filed on the accused’s behalf and no help should be extended to him in any way.
He also demanded capital punishment for the crime.
The Councillor said: “I demand the court, the Bar Association and the police to take strict action in cases of love jihad and punish the perpetrators.
“One person has been arrested so far out of four. I demand the others also be arrested at the earliest.
“If this is not love jihad then what is?
“For love jihad, they target girls of good families. He should be encountered or hanged at the earliest.”
Before Khondunaik was identified, Mr Hiremath said his daughter was stabbed by an “unknown person” who was from a “different caste”.
He said on April 18: “After my daughter’s classes ended at 4:30 pm, she came out of her college and an unknown man attacked her by stabbing. She died on the spot.”
On his daughter rejecting the suspect’s advances, he added:
“She told him that their castes were different and that she was not interested in any relationship. This infuriated the man and he killed her.”
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