A district court in Karnataka’s Koppal recently convicted three locals of murdering an Indian tourist, gang raping a tourist from Israel and an Indian home stay owner, and assaulting and robbing an American tourist in Hampi in March last year.
The district court has sought reports on the social background, jail conduct and psychological mindset of the three convicts – Mallesh alias Handi Malla alias Mallayya, 22, Sai alias Chaitanya Sai alias Saikumar, 21, and Sharanappa alias Sharanabasavaraj, 27 – before deciding on a sentence.
The district court in Koppal convicted the three men – who have a history of crime in the region – on February 6 and posted the case for arguments on sentencing on February 16.
The brutal attack on the tourists in March 2025 on the banks of the river Tungabhadra in Hampi, which is popular with backpackers, had created a shock wave and has resulted in a slide in foreign tourism in the region.
The crime forced the Karnataka government to take serious action for a speedy trial and the introduction of safety measures for tourists. The March 2025 attack on foreign and Indian tourists occurred when the tourists were stargazing and playing music in the open at night.
The incident occurred when a group of five persons, including two foreigners from Israel and the US, a woman guide from the resort where the tourists were staying, a youth from Odisha, and a youth from Maharashtra, were relaxing near the Tungabhadra canal – across the river from the heritage site of Hampi.
The three youths from Koppal, who were subsequently arrested by the local police, chanced upon the group of tourists and their guide, and attacked, raped and robbed them.
The male tourists, Daniel Pitas, 23, from the US and Pankaj Patil, 42, from Nasik in Maharashtra and Bhibash Kumar Nayak, 26, from Odisha, were pushed into the canal, and the two women – an Israeli tourist and the Indian guide – were gang raped by the three locals. The Odisha youth, Bhibash Kumar Nayak, died in the attack, and his body was found a day later in the canal.
The police had registered a case under Sections 103 (murder), 109 (attempt to murder), 309(6) (robbery and voluntarily causing hurt), 311 (dacoity), 64(L) (grievous bodily harm or endangering the life of a woman), and 70 (1) (gang rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
On February 6, the Koppal district court convicted Mallesh, Sai, and Sharanappa, who work as labourers in Koppal, for the murder of Bhibash Kumar under Section 103(1), for attempting to murder Daniel Pitas and Pankaj Patil under Section 109, and for robbing the Indian woman guide of the group under Section 309(6) of BNS.
In addition, Mallesh and Sai were convicted for the gang rape and rape of the Indian guide, while Sai and Sharanappa were convicted for the gang rape and rape of the Israeli tourist under Section 70(1) and Section 64 (1) of the BNS.
The three accused were also convicted for causing grievous bodily harm and endangering the life of the two women, as well as robbing the Indian woman and the US tourist and committing a dacoity against the US citizen and the Maharashtra man.
The crime of murder entails a death penalty, while the crime of gang rape entails up to 20 years of imprisonment, and the heinous crimes entail 10 year imprisonments.
Reports to decide on nature of punishment
Based on a submission by the Public Prosecutor that the crimes “fall under rarest of rare case” on account of “connected offences of two gang rape, two attempt to commit murder with hurt, robbery by causing hurt, grievous bodily harm while committing rape, robbery by attempt to cause death”, the court called for reports to decide on the nature of punishment.
The court has called for a social investigation report on the “family circumstances, economic condition, education, and community standing of convicts,” a jail conduct report “indicating discipline, behaviour, and attitude of the convicts,” and a psychiatric and psychological report “examining mental stability, emotional control, and scope for reformation of convicts.”
During the pronouncement of the conviction order, the Koppal district court also noted that Koppal Superintendent of Police Dr Ram L Arasiddi had submitted “that after the untoward incident… they have increased the number of vehicles for patrolling duty and that … Hampi is absolutely safe for Indian and foreign visitors.”
The police had nabbed Sai and Mallesh after going through CCTV footage taken near the crime spot. (File Photo)
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