Bengaluru,UPDATED: Apr 23, 2024,(ozi news desk )A man from the minority community was arrested in Karnataka after he assaulted a woman who wanted to end their friendship. The woman, who was scared following the , Neha Hiremath, went to meet Aftab house to return the gifts but was scolded and slapped repeatedly.
s the woman went to meet Aftab, he burnt the gifts, scolded her and slapped her. The woman was eventuallysaved by a passer-by.
The woman said Aftab had been following her for two years and used to gift her bags and other items. “I tried to be friends with him, however, after the Neha Hiremath murder incident, I became suspicious of Aftab’s intentions and asked him to end all relationships between us,” the woman said.
The woman said Aftab asked her to meet him at a public place and return the gifts. “It was a public place, so I felt safe and went there. When I went to return the gifts and asked him to end our friendship, he assaulted me. He hit me with a heavy object on my head,” she further said.
The passer-by who saved the woman said the man should be punished.
“Who gives them the right to hit someone or murder someone? Here, he (Aftab) forced her to get into a relationship with him. She said no and he hit her. Thank God we were there to save her. We lost one sister (Neha). We can’t lose another,” the passer-by told India Today TV.
At the same time, some members from a Hindu outfit came to rescue the woman and thrashed Aftab. The woman lodged a police complaint, following which an FIR was registered. The accused was later arrested.
On April 18, Neha Hiremath was stabbed to death on the campus of KLE Technological University in Hubballi Dharwad, where she was a first-year MCA student. The within hours of the incident.
While the police investigation suggested Neha and Fayaz were in a relationship, her father has claimed she had rejected his marriage proposal.
The incident has led to the opposition BJP and the Congress government sparring over ‘love jihad’ charges.