Hubballi murder: Victim’s father demands ‘death penalty’ for accused

Niranjan Hiremath, the father of a 23-year-old woman who was stabbed to death by a man in Karnataka’s Hubballi, has demanded ‘death penalty’ for the accused.
Hiremath, who is the Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, also thanked the party leader, Randeep Singh Surjewala, for visiting his family and extending support.
“Today he (Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala) came and said that they were with me. I thank him for coming. He said that the case would be heard in a fast-track court. I demand that he (the accused) be given the death penalty,” he said while speaking to ANI.
He also requested that the political parties not politicise the death of his daughter.
“Leaders from BJP also visited us, and many have been criticising it. It is not right. It is humanity to visit people at difficult times. Today he came and other leaders were also here. I request everyone to keep my daughter away from your politics,” Hiremath added.
The victim, identified as Neha, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on April 18. 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.
Earlier in the day, Hiremath claimed that old photographs and video clips of his daughter were being circulated on social media to divert public attention from the severity of the crime.
“Today marks the sixth day since my daughter’s death. While we struggling to come to terms with her loss, someone out there is posting old photographs of my daughter on social media, using fake IDs, to defame her even in death. We did lodge a complaint with the cyber police about this but no step has yet been taken to prevent such attempts to dishonour my daughter,” he said.
“It’s clear that some people are trying to sully my daughter’s image and standing in her and our known circles by putting out her old photographs on social media. I demand that those behind such attempts to defame my daughter be identified and taken to task at the earliest. This is all I ask of the government,” he added.
He also urged the cyber police to take action on the same. “I urge the cyber police to stop the circulation of my daughter’s images at the earliest. My daughter wasn’t at fault. She was the victim of a conspiracy. Nobody should form misplaced opinions about my daughter on the evidence of the photos and video clips that are going viral now,” he said further