A TOURIST and her travel host have been gang-raped while stargazing in a horror attack in India.
The sick attackers also killed one of the pair’s male friends by hurling him into a canal while two other men with them survived.
India has been left shocked by the disturbing attack in Karnataka in the country’s south.
Police have said two suspects have been arrested over the sex attack and the killing – while a third remains at large.
Both women – the Israeli tourist and her Indian hostess – are continuing to recover in hospital after the assult on Thursday.
According to police chief Ram L Arasiddi, the sick assault started when the host took a group comprising the Israeli women, two Indian men, and one man from the US stargazing near the canal in Koppal.
The three suspects then arrived on a motorbike and approached the group.
They first asked where they could get petrol – before demanding money from the victims.
And then they attacked, hurling the three men into a canal – killing one of the Indian travellers.
The other men managed to swim to safety.
The gang then attacked the two women, beating and sexually assaulting them, before fleeing on the motorbike.
The case has shocked India – with Karnataka state president B. Y. Vijayendra saying the are still not enough protections for women.
He said authorities remain “delusional and indifferent”.
The state’s chief minister Siddaramaiah stated, “Our government has a firm commitment to ensuring protection for all individuals, including tourists, visiting the state.”
“All necessary measures will be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur.”
Disturbing spread of sexual violence in India
SEXUAL assaults on women have become disturbingly familiar in India.
Police recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, a 20% increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
The real figure is believed to be far higher due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence and victims lack of faith in police.
Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight since the brutal 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus.
This brutal attack led to widespread protests and prompted legislators to establish fast-track courts specifically for rape cases and to increase the severity of penalties.
The rape law was amended in 2013, criminalizing stalking and voyeurism and lowering the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
The government in 2018 approved the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under age 12.
Despite stringent laws, its rare for more than a few weeks to pass without another brutal sexual assault being reported.
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.
And meanwhile, 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.
