Youths Who Vandalised Hampi Fined

The four youth who vandalized ancient pillars at the Vishnu Temple Complex in Hampi a couple of weeks back have now been made to re-erect the fallen pillars in the presence of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Hampi police and Hampi policemen.

According to a New Indian Express report, punitive action was taken by a court in Karnataka’s Hospet city against the youth who desecrated the pillars.

The youth have been tracked down and ordered by Judge Poornima Yadav of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court in Hosapete, hearing their case to pay a fine of Rs 70,000 each.

The accused - Ayush from Madhya Pradesh, Raja Babu Chowdary, Raj Aryan and Rajesh Kumar Chowdary from Bihar, were also made to give assurances to the court that they would not vandalize again. After paying the fine of Rs 2.8 lakh together, the four youth assisted the authorities in re-erecting the heavy pillars at the temple following which they were released. The four youth had filmed their act of toppling the pillars in Hampi in a video that went viral across the social media causing outrage over their act of vandalism.

Following a complaint filed by the ASI's Arun Rangarajan in Hampi Police Station, police registered an FIR and formed teams to track and arrest them. Since they were in different places - Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh, the police tracked them a week after the video was shared and arrested the accused. The maximum punishment for the act of vandalism is two years imprisonment or fine up to Rs 1 lakh and if the offenders are unable to pay the fine, they will have to serve the jail term.

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