Police have arrested a third suspect in the gang-rape of two women, including an Israeli tourist, near a Unesco World Heritage Site in southern India.
The women and three male tourists were stargazing near Sanapur lake in Hampi, Karnataka, when they were attacked by three men on Thursday night.
The Israeli and the owner of the homestay she was staying in were assaulted and gang-raped, police said, while the male tourists, including an American, were pushed into the Tungabhadra canal nearby. While two of them survived, a 22-year-old tourist from the eastern state of Odisha was found dead.
Two of the suspects were arrested on Saturday while the third person was detained in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
Karnataka minister Shivaraj Tangadagi said police had been instructed to beef up security to prevent such incidents. “Three people were involved in this horrific crime, which should never have happened. Two were arrested yesterday, and the third was caught today," he told reporters on Sunday.
The incident appears to have led to a sharp decline in tourists heading to Hampi, an ancient village known for its ruins and temples from the Vijayanagara Empire.
More than 25 homestays in and around Hampi saw travel agencies cancel bookings over the weekend. Several tourists also cut short their stays and left the region shortly after the incident came to light, local media reported.
Virupakshi V Hampi, secretary of the State Tourist Guides Association, confirmed a decline in homestay bookings after the incident was reported. “Even tourists from other states are cancelling or postponing their visit to Hampi,” he told The New Indian Express. “The entire nation condemned the Sanapur rape incident. Hope police increase patrolling in Hampi and surroundings."
Kiran Hanumanahalli, a homestay operator, told The Indian Express that news about the gang-rape spread rapidly and prompted "about 400 people, mainly Israelis" to leave.
Foreign visitors in Hampi said they had been instructed to travel in groups and return to their homestays by 8.30pm.
Vijayangara police superintendent Shrihari Babu B L said his force was ready to take care of visitors to Hampi and that they would issue guidelines for homestay owners.
An unnamed police officer earlier told The Times of India that the Sanapur lake area was frequented by petty criminals, gamblers and "drug users who often target individuals alone or in some groups". He said many incidents of crime in the area were either not reported to police or would come to light only after significant delays.
The US State Department said it was "aware" that an American citizen was among a group of victims of violent crime in Karnataka.
According to police, three men initially approached the tourists on a motorbike asking for petrol and demanding 100 rupees (£1). When the victims refused, the men turned violent, pushing the men into the canal and then sexually assaulting the women.
“Since the homestay operator did not know them, she told them they had no money. When the men repeatedly insisted, one of the male tourists from Odisha gave them 20 rupees. After that, the three men allegedly started arguing and threatened to bash their heads with stones," police said.
Incidents of sexual assault are not uncommon in India, which recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, nearly 20 per cent more than in the previous year, according to the most recent available figures from the National Crime Records Bureau. The actual number is thought to be much higher, however, as many cases go unreported due to stigma surrounding sexual violence, societal pressure and police apathy.
