Posts falsely claim no Congress leader visited Neha Hiremath's family after her murder

By: Annet Preethi Furtado
April 29 2024

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Screenshot of the X posts sharing a video with captions alleges that the BJP was the sole party to visit the home of Neha Hiremath, a Congress councilor's daughter who was killed in Karnataka.  (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What's the claim?

A 31-second video of Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief B.Y. Vijayendra meeting Niranjan Hiremath, father of Neha Hiremath, has been shared to claim that nobody from the Congress party visited him or his family after his daughter was killed on the campus of KLE Technological University in the southern Indian state of Karnataka's Hubli Dharwad. 

The 21-year-old was stabbed to death allegedly by her former classmate Fayaz Khodunaik on April 18, 2024. Khodunaik was arrested by the police and the matter is currently under investigation. Hiremath's father is a councilor from the Congress party in the Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation. 

The video was shared on X (formerly Twitter) with a caption, "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 highest level. Shame! (sic)" 

One such post had garnered around 113,600 views at the time of writing this story.

Screenshots of X posts. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Archived versions of these posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

However, the claim is not true. Congress minister Santosh Lad was seen with the deceased's father on April 19 during her final rites. Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) Siddaramaiah, State Congress In-Charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, and ministers HK Patil and Lakshi Hebbalkar, too, visited the family.

The Congress visits

Congress Minister Santosh Lad was seen with the deceased's father on April 19 during her final rites. A YouTube video (archived here) by News18 Kannada shows Lad with Niranjan Hiremath. 

Screenshot from News18 Kannada's news report. (Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

On April 20, Congress member and Karnataka Minister for Women and Child Welfare Lakshmi Hebbalkar visited the family at their residence. During her visit, she assured Hiremath's family of justice. 

Screenshot of a Vijay Karnataka news report showing Congress member and Karnataka Minister for Women and Child Welfare Lakshmi Hebbalkar offering condolences at the Hiremath residence. (Source: Vijay Karnataka / Screenshot)

The same day, TV9 Kannada (archived here) also aired a news segment about Hebbalkar's visit to the Hiremath residence. Following the meeting, the minister expressed that sincere efforts would be made to ensure proper justice for Neha. She stated that an investigation would be conducted, and, as a mother, she said she unequivocally condemned the incident.

Congress General Secretary and Karnataka In-Charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, with Law Minister HK Patil and other leaders visited the Hiremath residence on April 24. Surjewala expressed his condolences and reassured the family that the accused would be swiftly brought to justice. 

Surjewala posted visuals of the meeting on his official X account. (archived here)

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah extended his condolences to the Hiremath family during his visit to their residence in Bidanala, Hubballi on April 25. The Hindustan Times reported that Hiremath emphasized on the need for heightened security for his family and urged for a prompt judicial process. Additionally, a video of Siddaramaiah's visit to the Hiremath residence was shared by news agency PTI (archived here) on its X account on the same day.

The BJP visits

On April 23, BJP chief B.Y. Vijayendra visited the Hiremath residence. A news segment by Public TV (archived here) featured visuals similar to those of the viral video but from a different angle.

This incident has sparked a political row in Karnataka. While the police investigation reportedly suggests that Hiremath and Khodunaik were in a relationship, her family members have stated that he had been harassing her and that she had turned down his marriage proposal. The ruling Congress party attributes the motive behind the murder to personal reasons, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleges that this is a case of "love jihad," a theory popularized by the right-wing which claims that Muslim men entrap Hindu women in the guise of love and convert them to Islam.

The verdict

Clearly, Congress leaders visited Neha Hiremath's family after she was fatally stabbed on April 18. While a few visits happened before BJP leaders visited the family, a few of them happened afterwards. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.