Three local men were sentenced to death yesterday for gang raping an Israeli woman and an Indian woman and killing an Indian man.
The 27-year-old Israeli and the 29-year-old Indian woman hosting her were victimized while stargazing late last 6 March in the southern state of Karnataka.
Riding a single motorcycle, the assailants approached the women and three male tourists with them, asked for directions to a gas station, and demanded 100 rupees ($1.10). An argument ensued, and the three male tourists – an American and two Indians – were pushed into a canal. One of the Indians drowned.
The women then were savagely violated.
The perpetrators, who were in their twenties, stole cash and valuables from the victims before fleeing.
They were arrested days later.
The incident occurred 215 miles north of the tech hub of Bengaluru by a canal in the ancient village of Hampi, home to a World Heritage Site consisting of ruins and temples.
Violence against foreigners in India is rare. But sexual harassment, groping and even rape of foreign women is a serious problem.
Police quickly arrested three men in connection with the rape of a 28-year-old Spanish-Brazilian woman and simultaneous beating of her Spanish husband in the eastern state of Jharkhand on 1 March 2024.
The battered victims flagged down a police vehicle at 2300 along a road near Dumka in Santhal Pargana region.
The couple told Spanish media that they were attacked while sleeping in a tent they had pitched in a secluded area after failing to find a hotel. The woman said she was gang raped for two hours.
They said some items were stolen, but that the assailants focused on the gang rape.
Up to the time of the attack, the couple regularly posted images of their around-the-world motorcycle trip on Instagram. They had been in India a few months.
Groping of women and girls amid crowds is a notorious problem in India.
A video of a Japanese woman being sexually assaulted by several local men in New Delhi on 8 March 2023 went viral.
The victim was attending a celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi in the Paharganj area.
Going far beyond the tradition of applying colored powder to the faces of celebrants, the men groped the victim aggressively while screaming “happy Holi.” One of them smashed an egg on her head.
The victim can be seen struggling to flee.
Throughout India, women should not be in public alone after sunset and should not stray from well-beaten paths in affluent areas when they are alone during daylight hours. It is important to note that even foreign women with years of experience in India do not take taxis by themselves after dark, and that they sit in the back and refrain from chit-chat with the driver when they do so alone in daylight hours. Certainly, women should not travel or engage in tourist activity alone. If absolutely obliged to travel alone by train, they should secure an entire compartment.
Outside of enclosed resort areas, it is essential for women to wear conservative clothing covering legs and shoulders. Dark sunglasses are recommended as a means of avoiding eye contact with local men. Women simply should not talk to Indian men, since what might seem like a normal verbal exchange to them could be perceived by the other party as a sexual or romantic come on. Women should not shake hands with local men outside of structured business settings.
“Eve teasing,” the local term for sexual harassment, can escalate from stares, catcalls and whistles to “accidental” bumps, pinching and groping. Women sometimes are followed on the street. The situation is at its worst in New Delhi and other northern cities, but there is no shortage of unpleasant incidents elsewhere, including in relatively liberal Mumbai.
Harassers should not be confronted directly. Rather, victims should duck into a shop or restaurant, and call the police or a trusted male colleague if the harasser refuses to leave. Women should carry a mobile phone with 100, the number of the police, and the numbers of trusted male relatives or colleagues on speed dial.
Women should keep in mind that drugging of food or drink for purposes of rape or robbery is not unknown. Food and beverages should be closely watched in public and should not be accepted from strangers.
Women should avoid public celebrations and festivals, since young men often use the cover of crowds to grope local and foreign females.
It is essential to note that rape of women by male Indian acquaintances is common.
