Horror as two Western vacationers are gang-raped whereas stargazing journey in India
An Israeli woman tourist and her local female host were allegedly gang-raped on a stargazing trip in southern India.
The woman and her homestay operator were stargazing with three male travellers, an American and two Indians, in Koppal town, southern Karnataka state on Thursday evening when they were approached by three other men on a motorbike.
According to police official Ram L Arasiddi, the men on the motorbike asked the two women and their male companions for money but, when an argument broke out, the three male travellers were pushed into a nearby canal and the women were sexually assaulted.
Mr Arasiddi said one of the tourists drowned as a result and that his body was recovered on Saturday. The two other men swam to safety.
A special investigation team has since arrested two of the three suspects on suspicion of attempted murder, gang rape and robbery.
Sexual assaults on women have become more commonplace in India, where police recorded more than 31,000 cases of rape in 2022 – a 20 per cent increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
It is thought the true figure may be higher still due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence.
A police officer speaks on his mobile phone at the scene as they search for the male travelers who were pushed into the canal by three men accused of gang-raping two women
One of the tourists drowned and his body was recovered on Saturday
The attack sparked mass protests and prompted legislators to create fast-track courts for rape cases, and harsher penalties.
The rape law was amended in 2013 to criminalise stalking and voyeurism, and to lower the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
In 2018, the government approved the use of the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under the age of 12.
High-profile cases involving foreign visitors have drawn international attention to the issue.
Last year, in a video that was later deleted, a Spanish tourist said his wife was raped in northern India, while an Indian-American woman said she was raped at a hotel in New Delhi. In 2022, a British tourist was raped in front of her partner in Goa.
