Men sentenced to death for gang-rape of Israeli tourist, murder of local man in India
The men were convicted of gang rape, murder, attempt to murder, robbery, and extortion, with the court ordering imprisonment "till their last breath."
Members of the Delhi Police S.W.A.T (Special Weapons and Tactics) team participate in a mock drill exercise conducted by the Delhi Police, in New Delhi, India May 16, 2025.(photo credit: REUTERS/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS)ByTOBIAS HOLCMANUpdated:
The three men who killed a man and gang-raped two women, including one Israeli tourist, were sentenced to death in India on Monday by a court in Karnataka.
According to local media, the convicts received capital punishment for the murder and sexual assault of the two women back in March 2025 in Koppal, India.
Five people were attacked by the perpetrators that night: two Indian nationals from Maharashtra and Odisha, an American tourist, an Israeli tourist, and a Koppal local woman who owned a homestay in the area and was hosting the tourists.
The owner took the tourists on a sightseeing tour when the three convicts, identified as Mallesh (Handimalla), Saikumar, and Sharanabasavaraj, approached the group on a motorcycle, claiming they intended to resolve a "financial conflict."
After a brief fight, the men pushed the three men from the tourist group into a nearby canal and gang-raped the women. They also threw rocks towards the men to stop them from climbing back up, killing one of them in the process.
The two suspects in the rape case against an Israeli woman in India. (credit: Walla)
Court orders capital punishment, imprisonment until 'last breath'
According to The Times of India, the men were convicted of gang rape, murder, attempt to murder, robbery, and extortion.
"Hence, the Judge Sadananda Nagappa Naik under section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita gave them capital punishment. For the gang rape, the court ordered imprisonment till their last breath," the public prosecutor in charge of the case said.
According to her recall of the events, one of the men was saved by the American tourist while the other one drowned in the canal.
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
More information
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Sale of Personal Data
Always Active
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch.
If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link. If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Performance Cookies
Always Active
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Targeting Cookies
Always Active
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
