Bengaluru, March 15 (IANS) The Karnataka Police have arrested two more accused persons on Saturday in connection with the murder of a young woman Swati Ramesh Byadgi, reported from the Haveri district, police said.
Hindu activists and the BJP have alleged that it is a case of “love jihad”.
Swati, a nurse and a resident of Masur village, had gone missing on March 3.
Her body was recovered from the Tungabhadra river on March 6.
The investigations revealed that Swati was strangulated to death and then dumped into the river.
The police had already arrested the main accused, Nayaz, on Friday.
The two newly arrested suspects have been identified as Vinay and Durgachari, both of whom are said to be close friends of Nayaz.
According to the police, the accused trio murdered Swati on March 3.
Swati and Nayaz were in a relationship, but Nayaz later broke up with her after his family arranged his marriage with another girl from the Muslim community.
Enraged by this, Swati warned Nayaz that she would not remain silent if he married someone else.
Fearing trouble, Nayaz decided to kill Swati and discussed his plan with Vinay and Durgachari. The trio then conspired to kill her.
On the pretext of talking to her, Nayaz called Swati and took her to Swarna Park in Ranebennur town.
Later, the accused drove Swati to Rattihalli in a car, where they strangled her to death inside an abandoned school building using a saffron-coloured towel. Later, they placed her body in the trunk of the car and dumped it into the Tungabhadra river, police said.
Meanwhile, former Minister and senior BJP leader B.C. Patil visited Swati’s mother at her residence in Masur village on Saturday to console her. He gathered details from the family and urged the state government to ensure strict punishment for all those involved in the murder of Swati.
Swati was passionate about attending bull-taming sports, a traditional event in Haveri district. It was during one such event that she met the accused Nayaz and fell in love with him.
However, the Hindu activists and former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai alleged that Swati’s murder is a case of “love jihad”.
After searching for Swati, her family lodged a missing person complaint with the Hirekerur police station.
On March 6, Swati’s body was found in the Tungabhadra river near Pattepura village, located nearby Ranebennur town in Haveri district, within the jurisdiction of the Halageri police station.
The Halageri police, upon recovering the body, initially buried it, assuming it to be that of an orphan.
However, the deceased woman’s post-mortem revealed that it was a murder case.
Later, the identity of Swati was established as the missing case was lodged, police said.
Swati did not have a father, and her mother and other family members initially had no suspicions regarding her death.
She was working at a hospital in Ranebennur town.
When Swati’s family and police inquired with her colleagues and friends, they learned that she had been in a relationship with a man named Nayaz.
Villagers and Hindu activists suspect that this is a case of “love jihad” and have started a signature campaign, urging the police to take action against Nayaz.
Swati’s family and relatives claimed that if she had belonged to a different community, justice would have been served more swiftly.
Former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai on Friday condemned the murder of Swati Ramesh Byadgi, a young woman from Masuru village in Rattihalli taluk, Haveri, and alleged that the ‘love jihad’ network is actively operating in the state, and the rising number of such incidents is due to the lack of fear among criminals.
In a post on X, former CM Bommai said that ever since the Congress government came to power in Karnataka, the safety of women has deteriorated.
It is quite shocking that there have been rising incidents where young women are deceived and murdered in the pretext of love, he added.
The former Chief Minister said that before the Neha Hiremath’s murder in Hubballi could subside, another horrifying incident has taken place with the murder of Swati Ramesh Byadgi in Haveri district.
Reports suggest that this, too, could be linked to love jihad, Bommai added.
The BJP leader said that nearly a week after the incident, efforts to protect the main accused, Nayaz, seem evident.
Reports indicate that Nayaz pretended to be in love with Swati, later rejected her for being from a different religion, and decided to marry another woman from his own community. When Swati confronted him about this, he allegedly killed her.
Bommai also alleged that the ‘love jihad’ network has been actively functioning in the state in recent times.
The rise in such crimes is due to the lack of fear among criminals and emphasised that only strict punishment for the guilty can curb such incidents, he said.
“The police must act without succumbing to any pressure and to take stringent action against those responsible, including those supporting such acts. However, the authorities concerned often fail to handle such cases seriously, allowing them to fade from public memory,” Bommai added.
He urged the state government to provide appropriate compensation to Swati’s family and ensure justice is served.
–IANS
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