Hubballi student murder: Police arrest youths for social media posts claiming victim, accused were in a relationship

Hubballi, Karnataka: Police have arrested two youths who justified the murder of Neha Hiremath allegedly by Fayaz Khondunaik on their social media handles.

The accused from Dharwad were arrested on Saturday after a few pro-Hindu activists lodged a complaint alleging that the duo had posted contents claiming that Neha and Fayaz were in relationship.

According to the complainants, they allegedly uploaded pictures of the victim Neha and the accused, Fayaz, with a caption, "Neha Fayaz true love, justice for love".

Neha Hiremath (23), daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was allegedly stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on April 18.

The accused Fayaz, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently.

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

The incident triggered a public outrage with protests in Hubballi, Dharwad and several other places.

The BJP accused the Congress government of being soft on anti-social elements, which resulted in this incident as the ruling party tried to project it as an incident with a personal angle.