Congress General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday visited the house of student Neha Hiremath and assured justice to her family.
Neha, 23, daughter of Congress corporator Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death by her former classmate on the premises of her college in Dharwad on April 18, sparking widespread protests.
Mr Surjewala, who was accompanied by Law Minister H K Patil and other leaders, visited Neha's house here to express condolences and ensured her family that the accused will be punished at the earliest.
Taking to the social media platform 'X', he said, "Neha was Karnataka's daughter, our daughter.... Visited Neha's house in Hubballi today to express our condolences, share the unbearable grief with her father Niranjan Hiremath, her mother, brother and family members".
Assuring her father, the Congress leader posted, "Niranjan Hiremath that he is part of our family and we stand shoulder to shoulder with the family in this hour of grief. We assured the family that Karnataka Congress Government has handed over the case to the CID. CM and the Government have decided to hand over the matter for trial to a Special Court. Law Minister also informed that Government will ensure conclusion of trial within 90 to 120 days by asking for a day to day trial." Mr Surjewala also said that the state government and the Special Public Prosecutor will ask the court to award capital punishment of death by hanging for the murderer.
"It is our duty to ensure justice for Neha... so that no one can think of ever committing such a heinous crime again," he added.
The incident snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in Karnataka. While the ruling party has tried to project it as an "incident with a personal angle", the saffron party suspects "love jihad" and said that it points to the "deterioration of law and order" in the state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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