Koppal Court Awards Death Penalty in Hampi Tourist Gang Rape-Murder Case
Chilling new details have emerged publicly in the Sanapur rape-murder case, following the online publication of the judgment delivered by the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Gangavathi on February 16. The court has imposed the death penalty on three men convicted for their roles in a horrific crime that shocked the nation and the international community.
Details of the Crime and Victims
The incident occurred on March 6 last year near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi. A group of five tourists—two women and three men—had gathered at a homestay and ventured out for stargazing near the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal. The victims included a 27-year-old Israeli woman tourist, a 29-year-old Indian homestay owner, and three male companions: Bibhas Nayak, a 26-year-old tourist guide from Odisha; Daniel Pitas, a 23-year-old from the United States; and Pankaj Patil, a 43-year-old from Nashik, Maharashtra.
According to the court's findings, the convicts—identified as Mallesh alias Handimalla (22), Sai alias Chaitanya Sai (21), and Sharanappa alias Sharanabasavaraj (30), all residents of Sainagar in Gangavathi—approached the tourists with clear intentions of robbery and sexual assault. When the victims resisted, they were subjected to a brutal and coordinated attack.
Court's Reconstruction of Events
Presiding Judge Sadananda Nagappa Nayak meticulously reconstructed the sequence of events during the trial. The court noted that Bibhas Nayak bravely attempted to shield the two women and fend off the attackers. In response, he was chased towards the canal, pushed into the water, and relentlessly pelted with stones until he died. The judge described this act as intentional and calculated, aimed at eliminating resistance.
The other two male companions, Daniel Pitas and Pankaj Patil, were also attacked with stones, sustaining serious head injuries. The court observed that this was done to incapacitate them, allowing the sexual offences against the two women to be carried out without interference. The women were overpowered and sexually assaulted by the accused acting in concert.
Nature of the Crime and Legal Findings
The judgment underscored that the crime was not an individual act but a coordinated assault executed with shared intent. Each accused was fully aware of and complicit in the actions of the others. The court described the conduct of the convicts as reflecting "total depravity" and a complete disregard for human dignity.
The offences formed a continuous chain of criminal acts—including sexual violence, murder, attempted murder, and robbery—carried out in a single, coordinated episode. The assailants also robbed the victims, stealing two mobile phones and Rs 9,500 in cash before fleeing the crime scene.
Aggravating Factors and Sentencing
While determining the sentence, the court identified several aggravating factors:
- The exceptional brutality of the killing
- The vulnerability of the victims as tourists in a remote area
- The multiplicity of offences committed in one incident
- The complete absence of mitigating circumstances
The manner of the murder—pushing the victim into deep water and stoning him while he struggled to get out—was described as particularly heinous. The court observed that the crime shocked the collective conscience of society, especially as it occurred near the internationally renowned site of Hampi.
Based on these factors, the court concluded that the case met the legal threshold for invoking the "rarest of rare" doctrine, justifying the imposition of the death penalty. The convicts were found guilty of rape, murder, attempted murder, and robbery, with the judgment serving as a stark reminder of the severe consequences for such barbaric acts.
