AN INDIAN court has sentenced three men to death for raping an Israeli tourist and another woman, and murdering a man near a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The attack happened last year when a group of five people were stargazing in a village in south India, according to media reports at the time. The group included the Israeli tourist, another tourist and an American man.
The incident took place near Hampi, a popular visitor spot known for rocky hillocks and temple ruins.
Media reports said the three men raped the Israeli tourist and her homestay host, and pushed the three other people in the group — all men — into a canal.
One of the men, an Indian from Odisha state, was found dead the next day.
A district court judge handed the three convicted men the death sentence on Monday for the murder charge, and also gave them prison terms for other offences, including rape, according to a court document seen by AFP.
Their crime fell under “the rarest of rare category”, NDTV news network quoted the judge as saying.
The sentencing must be ratified by the Karnataka state high court, and can still be appealed.
India imposes the death penalty by hanging, although it is rarely carried out in practice.
The last executions in India were in March 2020, when four men convicted of the 2012 gang rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus were hanged in a case that sparked huge nationwide protests.
(With inputs from agencies)
