The mother of 23-year-old Fayaz — who killed Neha Hiremath, daughter of a Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath — said that both of them were in “love”.
Fayaz killed Neha, 23, in the BVB College campus on April 18.
“Fayaz was diagnosed with depression. And was sitting at home for one and a half years,” his mother Mumtaz has, reportedly, refuted claims of Neha’s father Niranjan that this is a case of love jihad.
The mother claimed that she was aware of their relationship for a year. And it was Neha, who made the first move by taking his son’s number when he became ‘University Blue’ in a body-building competition.
She asserted that they wanted to get married but I suggested them to focus on their careers first.
However, she accepted that her son’s act requires stringent punishment.
With tears in her eyes, Fayaz’s mother said, “I apologise to Neha’s family for what my son has done. It is an injustice. What my son has done is completely wrong and he should be given strict punishment as per the law,” said the boy’s mother, who is a school teacher.
The case has led to a war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah slammed the BJP for politicising the murder.
Condemning the incident, the CM said, “This is not a case of love jihad. I condemn the incident. We have arrested the culprit…. It is shameful that the BJP is using this issue for political gains.”
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi asserted that the issue was one of “love jihad”, but the state government refused to look into it.
Tejasvi Surya, who is aiming for re-election from the esteemed Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat and the head of the BJP youth wing and current MP, attacked the Congress on the issue.
He wrote on X, “The pain that Neha Hiremath’s family is suffering from is unimaginable. Although their pain can never truly subside, I pray to the almighty to give them strength at this hour of grief”.
Surya, further, added: Congress’s appeasement politics sustained over the last 10 months, exhibited through casual behaviour towards hate crimes, have emboldened anti-social elements with an unsaid promise of impunity. This is the primary reason behind such incidents recurring in Karnataka.”
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