Israeli Woman Among 2 Raped Near Karnataka’s Hampi; 2 Arrested

Two women, a 27-year-old Israeli tourist and a 29-year-old homestay owner gang-raped near Hampi in Karnataka on Thursday night. Three male companions, who were with the women, were also assaulted by the attackers and later thrown into a canal. One of the men’s bodies recovered from the waters this morning.

The incident happened between 11 and 11.30 pm on Thursday by Sanapur Lake – roughly 4 km from Hampi, which is a popular tourist attraction in Karnataka, especially among foreigners. Four tourists, including an Israeli woman, three males from Odisha, the US and Maharashtra, respectively, along with their female homestay owner had gone stargazing after dinner. The group was sitting by the bank of the Tungabhadra Canal near the lake, playing guitar and enjoying music while stargazing.

Three bike-borne men approached the group and asked them for directions to a petrol pump. When the homestay owner informed the individuals that there was no station nearby, they demanded cash from the group. On refusal, the miscreants – who spoke Kannada and Telugu – misbehaved with the group and began assaulting them. The homestay owner, who filed the complaint, said that the attackers pushed the male tourists into a canal. Then, while they struggled to come out of the water, two of the three attackers raped her and the Israeli tourist.

The accused dragged the homestay owner to the side of the canal, where one of them tried to strangle her and removed her clothes. Then, two of them thrashed and raped her. They also snatched her bag, stealing two mobile phones and Rs 9,500 in cash. The third attacker dragged the Israeli tourist to a spot and raped her. Then, the men fled on the motorbike.