Neha Hiremath murder case: Karnataka BJP calls for statewide protest on 22 April | 6 points

Karnataka BJP on Sunday called for statewide protest on April 22 (Monday) over the murder of 23-year old college student Neha Hiremath in Hubballi.

Neha, the daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath was allegedly stabbed to death by her former classmate Fayaz Khondunaik on the campus of the college on Thursday. She was pursuing Master of Computer Applications (MCA) at BVB College, Hubballi.

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Key updates  -

• The murder of Neha Hiremath has sparked off a political slugfest in the state.
• Demands for capital punishment for Fayaz have led to statewide protests.
• BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa has expressed his concerns about the Congress government's response on the incident, saying that the Congress government in the state is not bothered about anything.

“State government is not bothered about anything. They are not taking it seriously. They must take it seriously and take further action,” Yediyurappa told ANI.

• Umesh G Jadhav, BJP MP and candidate from Kalaburagi Lok Sabha seat on Sunday condemned the murder of Neha Hiremath and criticised the Congress for politicizing the matter.

“This incident should not just be condemned by society, but by the entire 140 crore people. It's quite unfortunate that some Karnataka Congress leaders are trying to give it some colour...A Congress corporator said that the party is attempting to give a different colour and hurting the soul of the deceased. Yesterday, in Karnataka's Gulbarga a strike occurred and we sat on the road for 3-4 hours in order to condemn this incident," Jadhav told ANI.

• Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra told ANI that prima facie it looks like a “love jihad” case. So rather than getting into the investigation, the CM is trying to protect the culprits. 
• 2 youths arrested for social media post

Police have arrested 2 youths who justified the murder of Neha Hiremath allegedly by Fayaz Khondunaik on their social media handles. The accused from Dharwad were arrested on Saturday after a few pro-Hindu activists lodged a complaint alleging that the duo had posted contents claiming that Neha and Fayaz were in relationship. 

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According to the complainants, they allegedly uploaded pictures of the victim Neha and the accused, Fayaz, with a caption, “Neha Fayaz true love, justice for love”.

Siddaramaiah comments

On Saturday, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the murder of Congress corporator's daughter Neha Hiremath in Hubballi is not a case of “love jihad” as alleged by the BJP.

“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,” the CM said.