KOPPAL: A local court here has sentenced three men to death in connection with the gang rape of an Israeli tourist and an Indian woman, and the murder of a tourist from Odisha near Sanapura Lake in Gangavathi taluk on March 6 last year.The crime scene was about 25km from the Unesco World Heritage Site of Hampi. The incident had sparked widespread outrage. Observing that the crime fell under the “rarest of rare” category, the court held that prosecution had proven the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.

Israeli, Homestay Owner Assaulted, Odia Tourist Killed

Pronouncing the quantum of punishment, Judge Sadananda Nagappa Nayaka of the first additional district and sessions court awarded capital punishment to the three convicts – Mallesh alias Handimalla, 22, Sai alias Chaitanya Sai, 21, and Sharanappa alias Sharanabasavaraj, 30, from Sai Nagar, Gangavathi. The court had, on Feb 6, found the three accused guilty and reserved its order on sentencing. The Indian woman, 29, a homestay owner, was brutally assaulted, strangled and then gang-raped. The 27-year-old Israeli woman tourist was also gang-raped.Bibash Nayak, 26, a tour guide from Odisha who was accompanying the women, along with two other male tourists, was killed in the attack. The assailants robbed the survivors, stealing two mobile phones and Rs 9,500 in cash before fleeing the scene. According to police, the victims – two women and three men, who had met at a homestay near Hampi – were stargazing near Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal when the suspects, allegedly intoxicated, attacked them. Superintendent of police Ram L Arasiddi said: “Two of the accused were arrested within 24 hours of the crime. We had gathered 101 witnesses and 84 articles for DNA testing. It was a challenging and sensitive case.” Bibhash’s cousin thanks govt“We hail the court verdict. It was delivered in less than a year,” said Firoz Kumar Pradhan, a cousin of Bibash. “We thank Karnataka govt for taking the case seriously and police for filing the chargesheet and completing the probe quickly,” Firoz said. Bibhash Nayak, 29, was a travel enthusiast.