Men who damaged 16th century Hampi World Heritage site ordered to re-erect pillars, pay fine

Four men who were seen vandalizing the 16th Century Hampi World Heritage site in Karnataka were arrested by the police and now the court has ordered them to re-erect the structure and pay fine.

A video was shared on the social media where these four men were seen desecrating the stone pillars of the UNESCO world heritage site. The video clearly shows that how the three men were damaging the pillars by pushing it and later on, bringing it to the ground and claimed that ‘Ruining the ruins.’

Additional Public Prosecutor Geetha Mirajkar told The New Indian Express, “The maximum punishment for the act is two years imprisonment or fine up to Rs 1 lakh. Offenders will have to serve the jail term if they are unable to pay the fine. The judge ordered them to pay the fine and they were released after they re-erected the pillar.”

Hampi has beautiful temples spread across a wide area and it was decleared by UNESCO, a world heritage site and is one of the top most tourist spot for the domestic and foreign visitors. Hampi is being administered and taken care by the Archaeological Survey of India. Also, Hampi was listed in the 52 must-go to sites in the world by the New York Times.

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