LONDON: A man has been found guilty in India of the rape and murder of Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin in 2017, her family's solicitor said on Friday (Feb 14).
Local man Vikat Bhagat was found guilty at the District and Sessions Court in south Goa.
McLaughlin, a 28-year-old from Buncrana in County Donegal, was found dead in a secluded spot in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March 2017.
She travelled to Goa with a female Australian friend, and the pair had been celebrating Holi - a Hindu spring festival - at a nearby village.
Her body was found the next day by a farmer in a field in a remote location.
A post-mortem examination showed the former Liverpool John Moores University student suffered cerebral damage and constriction of the neck, causing her death.
Her mother Andrea Brannigan and sister Joleen McLaughlin Brannigan said in a statement issued by family solicitor Desmond Doherty justice has "finally been achieved".
"There was no other suspect or gang involved in Danielle’s death and (Vikat) Bhagat was solely responsible for cruelly ending her beautiful life.
We have endured what has been effectively an eight-year murder trial with many delays and problems, right until the end, all taking place thousands of miles away from Danielle’s home in Buncrana, County Donegal.
We are content now with the judicial confirmation in public of what we already sadly knew. What further legal processes now take place we will observe"
Both also said the quest for truth and justice is "no easy matter, as we have discovered".
"We are glad to have visited the area where Danielle spent her last days on this earth, painful and difficult as that was.
We now hope not only that Danielle can rest in peace, but that we as a family can have some peace and comfort knowing that the person who brutally raped and murdered our precious Danielle has been convicted."
Irish deputy premier Simon Harris said: "In partnership with the UK, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - through the Embassy in New Delhi, consulate general in Mumbai and consular assistance unit in Dublin - has been consistently engaged on this case to seek progress towards a conclusion to the court case.
While nothing can ease the pain of their loss, I hope that this verdict represents some closure for the family.
My thoughts will remain with them as they continue to grieve the loss of their beloved daughter and sister. May Danielle rest in peace." - dpa
