Karnataka Minister MB Patil on Neha Hiremath murder: Culprit deserves capital punishment

Representation Pic

Describing the girl student's murder in Hubballi as a heinous act, Karnataka Industries Minister MB Patil on Saturday opined that the culprit deserves capital punishment. Neha Hiremath, daughter of Congress Corporator Niranjan Hiremath, succumbed to multiple stab wounds inflicted by Fayaz, a former friend and classmate.

Responding to queries by press persons about the incident, MB Patil urged that the legal proceedings of the incident should be carried out on a fast-track basis. The minister said that the miscreants in such cases should be harshly punished without delay. He emphasised that legal proceedings of such cases should be carried out in fast-track courts to avoid delay.

The awarding of capital punishment will help to avoid the recurrence of such incidents, Patil claimed. The heinous act of a girl student's murder is highly condemnable and cannot be justified at all, the Minister remarked. Assuring that the state government would work for the punishment of the guilty in the incident, he urged that the central government and state governments should work in coordination to frame laws allowing capital punishment for the guilty in heinous crimes.

He added that there also should be a provision to award capital punishment for those who are found guilty in rape cases related to minors. Following the incident, the Bharatiya Janata Party raised questions over the safety of women in the state.

Responding to the accusations made by BJP, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the Hubballi campus murder occurred due to personal reasons. The CM added that the law and order situation in Karnataka is good and that it is their duty to maintain it.

"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," Siddaramaiah said.

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