Two ladies had been gang-raped and a person was killed in an assault close to a well-liked Unesco World Heritage website in southern India, based on police.
The 2 ladies – an Israeli vacationer and an Indian homestay operator – had been stargazing with three male vacationers close to a lake within the metropolis of Hampi, Karnataka, after they had been attacked by a gaggle of males on Thursday evening, police superintendent Ram Arasiddi advised Reuters.
Arasiddi stated the assailants pushed the boys into the Tungabhadra River canal earlier than raping the ladies.
Two of the boys, considered one of them American, survived, and the third man’s physique was recovered on Saturday morning, he stated.
“5 folks – two ladies and three males – had been attacked close to Sanapur,” Arasiddi stated.
“Two of them are foreigners, an American [man], and one other a girl from Israel.”
Police have arrested two of the boys accused of the assault and an investigation is ongoing, Arasiddi stated. Police imagine the boys adopted the group.
The US State Division stated it was “conscious of stories {that a} US citizen was amongst a gaggle of victims of violent crime” close to Hampi.
In response to witness testimony from one of many ladies, the group was stargazing close to a temple in Sanapur when three males arrived on a motorbike and requested them the place they may get petrol.
As one member of the group gave them instructions, one of many three males demanded 100 rupees ($1.29) from the vacationers.
“For the reason that homestay operator didn’t know them, she advised them they’d no cash,” police stated.
“When the boys repeatedly insisted, one of many male vacationers gave them 20 rupees.
“After that, the three males allegedly began arguing.”
The physique of one of many male vacationers was later discovered within the Tungabhadra canal in Karnataka’s Koppal district.
A case has been registered at Gangavathi Rural Police Station beneath sections associated to extortion, theft, gang rape and tried homicide.
The victims are receiving medical remedy at a authorities hospital, the police stated.
Hampi, an historic village within the south Indian state of Karnataka, is house to quite a few ruins and temples from the Vijayanagara Empire. It was declared as a World Heritage Web site by Unesco in 1986.
In a put up on X, Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah wrote: “The assault and rape of an Israeli citizen and homestay proprietor is a most heinous act.
“As quickly because the incident was reported, I obtained info from the related police, carried out a radical investigation, and instructed them to rapidly determine the culprits.
“The police have arrested two accused in reference to the case and are persevering with the investigation.”
Assaults on ladies in India gained worldwide consideration final 12 months after the brutal rape-homicide of a junior physician at a hospital within the jap metropolis of Kolkata.
The assault sparked nationwide outrage and protests over an absence of security for girls.