A 31-year-old man has been jailed for life over the rape and murder of a 28-year-old Irish tourist in Goa, India.
Danielle McLaughlin’s body was found with severe injuries in a forested area near Palolem beach in Canacona village in March 2017.
The trial court had on Friday found Vikat Bhagat guilty of raping and murdering the 28-year-old backpacker.
The verdict came after nearly eight years of legal proceedings, with the victim’s family’s lawyer saying that the sentence brought justice.
“It was a difficult task for the prosecution to put together all the circumstantial evidence to convince the court beyond reasonable doubt about this conviction,” Vikram Verma said.
McLaughlin’s mother Andrea Brannigan had travelled to Goa for the verdict. She told reporters she was “glad and relieved” that the sentencing was over.
India tightened laws on rape and set up fast-track special courts after the brutal 2012 gang-rape of a young woman on a Delhi bus, a case that shocked the country.
At the verdict hearing on Friday, Ms Brannigan issued a statement which read: “I lost my eldest daughter, she was stolen from us, she was stolen from her sisters and friends.
“She was also stolen the opportunity of becoming a mother herself.
“There was a lot stolen from us and from her.”
Mr Verma said that Bhagat received life imprisonment under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 376 (rape), along with a Rs 25,000 (£250) fine.
Bhagat was also convicted for destruction of evidence, carrying a two-year sentence and an INR 10,000 (£100) fine, though all sentences will run concurrently.
According to prosecutors, Bhagat exploited his friendship with the victim to lure her to an open, isolated field, where he sexually assaulted her on the intervening night of 13 and 14 March 2017.
He then struck her head and face with a glass bottle before strangling her. A post-mortem examination later determined that the cause of death was brain damage and strangulation.
McLaughlin’s sister, Joleen McLaughlin Brannigan, also was in India for the verdict and sentencing.
“We have lost nearly eight years of our lives fighting for Danielle,” she said after the verdict.
“We are so thankful that we can now start grieving her immeasurable loss.
“She made the most of her 28 years, and lived every day to the fullest.
“She was so kind, and always so happy – she didn’t deserve what he put her through.
“We are so grateful to be able to be here for the verdict and see Goa that Danielle loved so much.”
Under Indian law, rape victims are typically not named to protect them from social stigma which is prevalent in India. However, in this case, McLaughlin’s family has chosen to speak to the media to raise awareness about her case.
McLaughlin, from Buncrana, travelled to India in February 2017, where she stayed for two weeks before being murdered.
The Liverpool John Moores University student had been sharing a beach hut with an Australian friend, and the two had been celebrating the festival of Holi in a nearby village. She left the village at night, and her body was discovered the following day by a local farmer in a remote area.
