Two women, including an Israeli tourist and a homestay owner, were gang-raped near Hampi in Karnataka on Thursday night. One of the male tourists who was accompanying them was found dead on Saturday morning. 

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Notably, the two women were accompanied by three male companions, who were also assaulted by the attackers, and one of them was later thrown into the Tungabhadra River canal. 

Earlier, the man was reported to be missing after the group attacked the tourists. 

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Koppal Police said on Saturday afternoon that two local residents, Mallesh and Sai Chetan, were arrested in connection with the horrific incident.

The police said that the incident happened between 1 and 11:30 pm on Thursday near Sanapur Lake, which is located roughly 4 km from Hampi. 

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What exactly happened? 

Four tourists, including an Israeli woman, and three males from Odisha, the US, and Maharashtra, respectively, and their female homestay owner, had gone stargazing after dinner.

The group was sitting by the bank of the Tungabhadra Canal near the lake, playing guitar and enjoying music while stargazing, police said. 

While they were enjoying the view, three bike-borne men approached the group and asked them for directions to a petrol pump. 

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The homestay owner informed those people that there was no station nearby. The individuals then started demanding cash from the group. 

After refusal, the individuals who spoke Kannada and Telugu misbehaved with the group and began assaulting them. 

The homestay owner filed the complaint, saying that the attackers pushed the male tourists into a canal. While they struggled to come out of the water, two of the three attackers raped her and the Israeli tourist. 

The accused dragged the homestay owner to the side of the canal, where one of them tried to strangle her and remove her clothes, according to the details of the FIR, as reported by PTI. 

The two of them then thrashed and raped her. They also snatched her bag, stealing two mobile phones and Rs 9500. 

The third attacker dragged the Israeli tourist to a spot and raped her. The men later fled on the motorcycle. 

Notably, Maharashtra's Pankaj and US's Daniel managed to rescue themselves from the canal and are undergoing treatment at a government hospital. 

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However, the tourist from Odisha failed to come out, and his body was found this morning, police said. 

(With inputs from agencies)