The UNESCO-recognised Indian village of Hampi has seen a sudden drop in tourist numbers due to fear of criminal violence, with particular concern sparked by the gang rape of two women and murder of one man on the evening of 6 March 2025.
The rapes of a 27-year-old Israeli tourist and a 29-year-old Indian homestay operator occurred when the two women were out with three male tourists near Sanapur Lake in Hampi, Karnataka and the group were attacked by a gang. The murder victim was a male tourist from Odisha, according to police.
29-year-old, Bibhas Nayak, who worked as an HR manager at St Stephen’s Hospital in #NewDelhi, had travelled across India on his bicycle. But his final act of bravery came at in #Karnataka’s Koppal district, close to the tourist site of #Hampi, where he lost his life trying to… pic.twitter.com/jGR0qzPXge
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) March 11, 2025
Tourists flee
In the wake of the violence, several tourists have ended their trips prematurely and fled, and there have been booking cancellations at over 25 homestays in the Hampi area, which is famous for its 14th-century Vijayanagara Empire temple complex.
An official at the State Tourist Guides Association has confirmed the decrease in bookings. “Even tourists from other states are cancelling or postponing their visit to Hampi,” he told The New Indian Express. “The entire nation condemned the Sanapur rape incident. Hope police increase patrolling in Hampi and surroundings.”
Risk of sexual violence in India
There is a high incidence of crimes against women in India, and recent years have seen a societal backlash against it. Although rape is punishable by the death penalty, records show 31,000 rapes were committed in 2022, an average of 85 victims per day – and that figure is likely an under-estimation due to under-reporting. In its advice for India, the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) notes: “There is a risk of sexual assault, including attacks on female foreign national visitors in tourist areas and cities.”
Reported rape stats from India pic.twitter.com/As6q4jd0uS
— Shake (@sabeaks) March 13, 2025
It continues: “Female travellers often experience verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men. Serious sexual attacks involving both Indian and foreign nationals have been reported. British women have been victims of sexual assault, including rape, in multiple states in India. Avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day.”
No-go areas
However, the FCDO only gives its highest level of alert, advising against all travel, for two regions in India (the India-Pakistan border, Jammu and Kashmir), and that is due to border clashes and a heightened risk of terrorism. It also advises against all but essential travel to Manipur due to insurgencies.
Among the risks in other regions, Goa, which neighbours Karnataka in India’s southwest, is the only state where sexual assaults and femicide are specifically mentioned by the FCDO. In the east, Jharkhand, where a Spanish biker was raped by seven men while her husband was beaten in early March 2024, is also flagged as a place where there is a “risk of violent crime in rural areas.”
