3 convicted in Hampi gang rape and murder case

The First Additional District and Sessions Court at Gangavathi in Koppal district on Friday convicted all three accused in the high-profile Hampi gang rape and murder case that had drawn national and international attention following the brutal sexual assault on two women, including a foreign tourist, and the killing of an Indian male tourist near the UNESCO World Heritage Site last year.

The court held Mallesh alias Handi Malla alias Mallayya (22), Sai alias Chaitannay Sai alias Saikumar (21) and Sharanappa alias Sharanabasavaraj (27) guilty of multiple serious offences, including murder, gang rape, rape, attempt to murder and robbery. The sentence will be pronounced on February 16, 2026, after hearing the convicts on sentencing.

The accused were produced physically before the court from judicial custody.

Acting under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the court convicted all three accused for the murder of Bibhas Kumar Nayak, a tourist from Odisha, under Section 103(1) of the BNS (corresponding to Section 302 of the IPC), read with the common intention clause.

The court also found the three accused guilty of attempt to murder and causing injuries to two male tourists, one from Maharashtra and another from the U.S., under Section 109(1) of the BNS.

All three were convicted for robbery by causing hurt to the Indian woman victim. Additionally, the court convicted Mallesh and Chaitannay Sai for gang rape and rape of the Indian woman, and Chaitannay Sai and Sharanappa for gang rape and rape of the Israeli woman, under multiple sections of the BNS corresponding to the stringent rape and aggravated sexual assault provisions of the IPC.

The accused were further held guilty of causing grievous bodily harm while committing rape, and for robbery involving attempts to cause death, reflecting the extreme brutality involved in the crime.

Sentencing deferred

While describing the case as one involving grave offences, the Public Prosecutor submitted that the murder, combined with multiple connected crimes including two gang rapes and attempts to murder, amounted to a “rarest of rare” category and sought appropriate sentencing.

The crime occurred on the night of March 6, 2025, when the victims and their companions were attacked near the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal in the Sanapura area, close to Hampi. The incident, involving sexual assault on an Indian and a foreign national and the murder of an Indian tourist, had triggered widespread outrage and raised serious concerns about tourist safety in and around heritage zones.