Hampi gang rape and murder: Court sentences three to death

In a landmark verdict on a crime that has drawn international condemnation, the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Gangavathi on Monday sentenced three men to death for the brutal gang rape of two women and the murder of a tourist near the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal at Sanapur in Koppal district last year.

The accused Mallesh alias Handi Malla (22), Sai alias Chaitannay Sai (21) and Sharanappa alias Sharanabasavaraj (27) were found guilty of various offenses including murder, gang rape and robbery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The incident took place on the night of March 6, 2025, near Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal in Sanapur. The victims, a 27-year-old Israeli traveler and a 29-year-old family man from Anegundi, were stargazing and listening to music along with their three male friends from the US, Maharashtra and Odisha.

According to the police complaint, the convicts arrived on a motorcycle and initially pretended to ask for gasoline. They soon demanded ₹100 from the group. When the tourists refused, the trio attacked the victims. After pushing three male tourists into the deep canal, the attackers attacked the women and brutally assaulted and raped both of them.

While Daniel from the US and Pankaj from Maharashtra managed to swim to safety and reach a community health center in Gangavathi, Bibhash Kumar Nayak, a young tourist from Odisha, drowned. His body was found days later by the Koppal police near the gate of a power plant in Mallapur.

Koppal police formed six teams and arrested Mallesh and Sai within 48 hours in Gangavathi, while Sharanappa was tracked down and arrested in Tamil Nadu within a week.

The court convicted the trio under Section 103(1) of the BNS for the murder of Nayak, along with charges of gang rape and attempt to murder. Highlighting the extreme brutality of the act, First Additional District and Sessions Judge Sadanand Nagappa Nayak emphasized that the victims were targeted while they were spending a peaceful evening in a high-profile tourist area.

While announcing the death penalty, the court emphasized that such heinous crimes committed against both local and foreign tourists require maximum punishment in terms of the sanctity of the law and public security.