A popular tourist town and Unesco heritage site in southern India is now being emptied of its tourists after a horrific gang rape and murder has gained international attention.

Last Thursday some women were visiting an outdoor nature spot - including an Israeli tourist and an Indian homestay owner - where they were stargazing with two other male tourists near the town of Hampi in Karnataka, when they were brutally assaulted by three male Indian attackers.

Over 100,000 tourists per year visit this area as Hampi was in late medieval history the capital of the Hindu Vijayanagara kingdom, and contains impressive stone ruins. It was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1986.

But following the rapes and murder, foreign tourists have rapidly departed and the area has seen a spate of canceled bookings. People are also afraid to go outside at night.

The area has recently seen a lot of Israeli tourists, who are now reportedly avoiding Hampi. According to a description of the crimes in Israeli media:

A man was murdered and an Israeli and an Indian woman were gang-raped near Hampi in India’s Karnataka state on Thursday evening, local media reported over the weekend.

The attack happened when a 29-year-old Indian woman who was hosting travelers took her guests, two Indian men, an American man and a 27-year-old Israeli woman, on a stargazing trip at the Tungabhadra Canal.

According to Indian media reports, the five were sitting and playing guitar by the canal when three men on a motorbike approached the group and asked for directions to a gas station, before demanding money.

The three attackers then pushed the three men into the canal and sexually assaulted the two women. One of the Indian men drowned.

Since then Indian police have announced that two local men in their 20s have been arrested as suspects in the case.

Tourists who have remained have been told to only venture out in groups. Violent crimes and rapes have been a serious problem in India of late.

"An average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in India in 2022," says one international report. "Several high-profile cases of rape and murder in recent years led to widespread protests."

In the wake of this latest tragic attack, a local Hampi tour guide told BBC, "Almost 90% of the tourists, most of whom are Israelis, have vacated homestays and left the area after Thursday."