"Not Love Jihad Case": Siddaramaiah On Murder Of Congress Leader's Daughter

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday 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.

The Chief Minister, while speaking to the media, hit out at the BJP and accused the party of politicizing the murder for politics.

Condemning the incident, the Chief Minister said, "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."

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, meanwhile claimed that the case is of 'love jihad' but the state government does not want to investigate the matter.

"He (deceased's father) is a corporator. For vote bank politics, suppressing and hushing up is their (Congress) policy. This is all happening due to that...There is a 'love jihad' but they do not want to investigate that. The father himself is saying that this is being hushed up," he said on Saturday.

The murder of Congress corporator's daughter Neha Hiremath in Hubballi has triggered a political slugfest in the state.

There have been protests in several parts of the state demanding capital punishment for Fayaz, who has been arrested in connection with the incident that occurred on April 18.

Neha (23), the daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on Thursday. The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently.

Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)