Mysore/Mysuru: Condemning the murder of student Neha Hiremath in the college campus at Hubballi recently, BJP Mahila Morcha workers led by Party State Vice-President Malavika Avinash staged a protest in front of Zilla Panchayat (ZP) on KR Boulevard in the city on Tuesday.

Speaking to media persons later, Malavika said “The crimes related to women like harassment and  murder are on the rise especially after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah led Congress Government came to power in the State, which has totally failed in checking such untoward incidents. The Hindu women have been fearing for their safety, with the recent case of Neha adding credence to this.”

For the last one year, those playing devotional songs like Hanuman Chalisa are facing assaults and the religious zealots even raised pro-Pakistan slogans in the premises of Vidhana Soudha, but there is no action yet. For how many days we should tolerate the constant harassment of Hindus for the sake of getting the votes of a particular community, asked Malavika.

The accused in Neha’s case had stabbed her 14 times in her neck and this shows how difficult it is for girls to go alone in public. Now, the State Government is exerting pressure in the name of investigation on the family of the victim to protect the accused. The photos of accused and victim are going viral on social media. Is this how we do justice to distressed girl children? she questioned.

She also demanded to hand over the investigation into Neha murder to any independent probe agency, as CM Siddaramaiah and Home Minister Dr. Parameshwara were issuing statements in media to give a clean chit to the accused with the sole intention of appeasing a community. Moreover, it is no more a secret about how State Police handle such cases, she added.

Mysuru District BJP Mahila Morcha President Renuka Raju, leaders Chandrakala, Sindhu Prasad, Srilakshmi, former Corporator Pramila Bharath, Savitha Gowda, Malini, Lakshmi Jayaram and others were present.