A 31-year-old Goa resident Vikat Bhagat was given a harsh life sentence by a Goan court on Monday for the 2017 r*pe and killing of Irish-British national Danielle McLaughin
The accused, Vikat Bhagat, was found guilty by the court on Friday of r*ping and killing the 28-year-old tourist whose body was discovered on March 14, 2017, in a wooded area in Canacona village, South Goa. Bhagat who is currently housed in the Colvale jail was given a severe life sentence by district and sessions judge Kshama Joshi on Monday. He was also fined Rs 25,000 for the the r*pe and murder and Rs 10,000 for destroying evidence.
Who is Vikat Bhagat who r*ped and murdered Danielle McLaughin of Northern Ireland in Goa, India, biography, age, religion and photo
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“We, as Danielle’s family and friends, are so thankful to everyone involved in our fight for justice, they have treated her like their daughter and have tirelessly fought for her,” it said.
They were thankful that their hard work paid off, and Bhagat was found guilty of taking Danielle from them. The 28-year-old victim’s body was found in a forested area in Canacona village of South Goa on March 14, 2017 and the conviction of Vikat Bhagat was the consequence of a thorough investigation, according to Police Inspector Philomena Costa, who looked into the case. He expressed his great satisfaction with the decision.
McLaughin, who was from Donegal in Northwest Ireland, was visiting Goa in March 2017 when Bhagat became her friend, according to the chargesheet submitted by the Goa police.
Indian man Vikat Bhagat has been found guilty of the rape and murder of Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin in Goa, 2017.
The 28-year-old victim was found naked, strangled & brutally beaten with a broken beer bottle.#DanielleMcLaughlin #Goa #VikatBhagat pic.twitter.com/mQcM7RjzlC
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Danielle McLaughlin, from Buncrana in County Donegal, was found dead in a field in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March 2017 and the 28-year-old backpacker had travelled to Goa with a female Australian friend, and the pair were staying in a beach hut before the attack happened. They had been celebrating Holi, a Hindu spring festival at a nearby village and Vikat Bhagat, then 24, a local man who knew McLaughlin, spent an evening with her before killing her. It stated that McLaughin died as a result of being hit by a stone. She was n*ked, with head and facial injuries, and her body was discovered in a pool of blood..
McLaughlin had spent time in India as a volunteer in an orphanage and had come back planning to learn to teach yoga while travelling and Bhagat was arrested within hours of McLaughlin’s body being discovered.
The body of the former Liverpool John Moores University student was returned to Ireland after her death, with a postmortem examination finding brain damage and strangulation as her cause of death with age 31, local Goan Bhagat, a Hindu by religion being found guilty after 8 years of the crime with McLaughin’s family being called in for more than 250 hearings.
Indian law typically prohibits the naming of r*pe victims. To bring attention to the victim’s issue, her family in this instance communicated with the media. Despite stricter rules against s*xual assault following the 2012 death of a young lady who was gang-r*ped on a bus in New Delhi, the crime brought attention to the ongoing violence against women in India.
🇮🇳🇮🇪INDIA: MAN FOUND GUILTY OF RAPE AND MURDER OF IRISH WOMAN
Vikat Bhagat (31) was today found guilty of raping and then killing Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin.
The case took almost 8 years, due to the failings of the Indian justice system.
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Justice “has finally been achieved,” according to a statement released later by Danielle’s mother, Andrea Brannigan, and sister, Joleen McLaughlin Brannigan.
“There was no other suspect or gang involved in Danielle’s death and Bhagat was solely responsible for cruelly ending her beautiful life,” they said.