Fact Check: Did Congress leaders ignore Karnataka councillor whose daughter was killed?

Fact Check: Did Congress leaders ignore Karnataka councillor whose daughter was killed?

The murder of Neha Hiremath, daughter of Karnataka Congress Councillor Niranjan Hiremath, on April 18, has triggered a political slugfest in the state. While the ruling Congress attributed the motive behind the murder to personal reasons, the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged this was a case of “love jihad”, a far-right conspiracy theory that claims Muslim men target Hindu women and convert them to Islam through marriage.

Niranjan Hiremath had earlier complained that if the Karnataka police could not conduct the investigation, the state government should transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Then, following a phone call with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Niranjan Hiremath apologised for speaking against the state government and said that courts should fast-track such heinous cases.

Amid protests and calls for a bandh in Karnataka following the murder, several social media posts alleged that no Congress leader visited the Hiremath home to pay their condolences.Â

These posts featured a video of BJP National President JP Nadda and Karnataka BJP chief Vijayendra meeting the grieving family. They  claimed: “Hubbali: After JP Nadda ji, Karnataka BJP chief Vijayendra visited Neha Hiremath’s house and met his father and Congress leader Niranjan Hiremath. Still, not a single person from Congress visited Neha’s house. Not even for formality. Muslim appeasement at the highest level. Shame!” An archive of such a post can be seen here.

India Today Fact Check found that before JP Nadda’s visit, Karnataka State Women’s Commission Chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary and Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar had visited Hiremath’s house.Â

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Keyword searches in English and Kannada led us to several news reports predating Nadda’s visit to the Congress corporator’s home. The BJP president visited Hiremath’s residence on April 21. A day before, on April 20, Karnataka Minister for Women and Child Welfare Lakshmi Hebbalkar offered condolences at the residence of the Congress councillor for the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation. During her visit, she assured Neha’s family of justice.

Karnataka State Women’s Commission chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary also reportedly visited the residence of the murdered 23-year-old on April 21. Offering condolences to her family, she expressed concern for their well-being and urged them to prevent anyone from exploiting the incident for selfish or political reasons. She reportedly said, “I am worried about the family and has asked the family not to allow anyone to use the incident for their selfish and political reasons.”

After Nadda’s visit, Congress General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, accompanied by Law Minister HK Patil, also paid a visit to Hiremath’s residence on April 24. Surjewala paid his condolences and reaffirmed to the family that the accused would be swiftly brought to justice. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too visited the family on April 25.

Neha Hiremath, a 23-year-old first-year Master of Computer Application student at BVB College, was fatally stabbed by her former classmate on April 18. The accused, Fayaz Khondunaik, was apprehended by the police shortly after.Â