India sentences to death three men convicted of murder, tourist's rape

 Indian court  issues death sentences against three men convicted of raping an Israeli tourist. [File,Standard]

An Indian court has issued death sentences against three men convicted of raping an Israeli tourist and another woman, and killing a man near a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The men had attacked a group of five people, which included an Israeli and another tourist, an American man, as they were stargazing in a village in south India last year, according to media reports at the time.

They were in the area of Hampi, which is popular with visitors, known for rocky hillocks and sprawling temple ruins.

The three men raped the Israeli tourist and her homestay host, and pushed the three others in the group -- all men -- into a canal, reports said.

One of them, an Indian man from Odisha state, was found dead the following day.

A district court judge handed the three convicted assailants the death sentence on Monday over the murder charge, as well as prison terms for other offences, including rape, according to a court document seen by AFP.

Their crime fell under "the rarest of rare category", NDTV news network quoted the judge as saying.

The sentencing must be ratified by the Karnataka state's high court, and can still be appealed.

The case has highlighted chronic violence against women in the world's most populous country, where 29,670 rapes were reported in 2023, according to the latest available official data.

India imposes the death penalty by hanging, although it is rarely carried out in practice.

The last executions in India were in March 2020, when four men convicted of the 2012 gang rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus were hanged, in a case that sparked huge nationwide protests.