Three sentenced to death in Hampi gangrape and murder case

A sessions court in Karnataka’s Koppal district on Monday sentenced three men to death for gang-raping two women and killing a man in March 2025, The Times of India reported.

The crime, which occurred about 25 km from the world heritage site of Hampi, had sparked widespread outrage at the time.

On March 6, 2025, two women, a 27-year-old from Israel and a 29-year-old homestay owner from Koppal, were assaulted and raped by the three men. The women were part of a group of five persons, which included three other male travellers from the United States, Odisha and Maharashtra.

The body of the male tourist from Odisha had been found two days after the incident.

On Monday, Judge Sadananda Nagappa Nayaka ruled that the crime fell under the “rarest of rare” category and warranted maximum punishment, NDTV reported.

The three men are 22-year-old Mallesh alias Handimalla, 21-year-old Sai alias Chaitanya Sai and 30-year-old Sharanappa alias Sharanabasavaraj.

The court had convicted them on February 6.

The case

In her complaint, the homestay owner said that the offence took place at about 10.30 pm, when she and her four guests were stargazing after dinner by the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal.

She alleged that three men arrived on a motorcycle and asked where they could get petrol. One of them demanded Rs 100 from the tourists, and when they refused, he began...

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