On 20th April, Hubballi-Dharawad police arrested two men identified as Sadiq Imam Saab Tadakoda and Adil, both residents of Dharwad, for social media posts justifying Fayaz stabbing his former classmate Neha to death in Hubballi. Notably, Fayaz murdered Neha for declining his proposal of a relationship on 18th April at BV Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology in Hubbali.
Sadiq and Adil were arrested after a complaint was filed by a few pro-Hindu activists at Vidyagiri Police Station. The duo had posted on social media claiming Neha and Fayaz were in a relationship. Several posts with captions such as “Justice For Love” and “Justice For True Love” have gone viral on social media justifying Fayaz’s actions. Most of such posts are made by Islamists.
Even some so-called journalists tried to indirectly propagate that they were in a relationship. In a post, a journalist named Nabila Jamal said, “As the family comes to terms with the loss, here’s a video that’s surfaced showing a picture compilation of Neha & Fayaz looking visibly comfortable as friends… End reality is unthinkable.” She posted a photo montage where Neha and Fayaz were seen together. The photographs were picked possibly from now-deleted Neha’s Instagram account. Furthermore, the video contained India Today’s logo.
Neha Murder Case
On 18th April, Neha Hiremath, daughter of Congress Corporator Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death by a man named Fayaz for allegedly refusing his proposal.
The incident took place at B V Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology in Hubbali, where Neha was studying in first year MCA. The attacker Fayaz was a BCA student of the same college and was a classmate of Neha. He is from Savadatti in Belagavi district. While Neha continued to MCA after completing BCA, Fayaz discontinued.
As per reports, Fayaz was waiting for her to come out of the college and attacked her with a knife. He stabbed her in the neck multiple times with the knife, which was caught on CCTV camera. He was covering his face with a mask. After the stabbing which left Neha profusely bleeding, the assailant fled the scene with the weapon in his hand.
Fayaz was arrested by the police following the murder. Soon after the incident, support for Fayaz poured on social media claiming it was not a case of “love jihad” but “true love”.
