New Delhi: A Karnataka civil court on Monday sentenced three men to death for sexually assaulting an Israeli tourist and murdering a youth in Koppal district last year.The Gangavathi Civil Court announced the sentence and awarded death penalty to the convicts: Mallesh alias Handi Malla, Sharanabasava and Chaitanya Sai. The court found them guilty on February 7 and reserved sentencing for February 16.Prosecutors said the crime, which occurred near Sanapur on March 6 last year, attracted international attention and cast a pall over the region’s tourism industry.Prosecutor Nagalakshmi said the incident occurred when a homestay owner took a group of tourists: Pankaj from Maharashtra, Bibhas from Odisha, Daniel from the United States and an Israeli woman to stargazing near the Tungabhadra canal within the limits of Gangavathi rural police station.The three defendants allegedly arrived on motorcycles and got into a fight over a financial dispute.“In order to rape the women, the criminals pushed the three men into the canal. To ensure that they did not come out, they threw stones at them. Later, they gang-raped the B&B owner and the Israeli citizen,” Nagalakshmi told reporters.She said Bihas Kumar died due to drowning in a canal. “Pankaj couldn’t swim, but Daniel saved him,” she added.After the attack, the defendant allegedly fled the scene with the victim’s mobile phone, cash and camera.“This was a case of gang-rape, murder, attempt to murder, robbery and extortion. Therefore, Justice Sadananda Nagappa Naik sentenced them to death under Section 103 of the Indian Code. For gang-rape, the court ordered that they be imprisoned till their last breath,” the prosecutor said.She added that offenders have the right to appeal their sentences to higher courts.
