The family of Danielle McLaughlin, an Irish woman killed in India nearly eight years ago, said justice has “finally been achieved” after a 31-year-old local man was found guilty of her rape and murder.
McLaughlin, hailing from Donegal’s Buncrana, had been in India for just two weeks when she was killed.
Earlier in the day, Vikat Bhagat was found guilty of her rape and murder at the District and Sessions Court in south Goa, India.
Her body was discovered on 14 March 2017 by a farmer in a remote field near Canacona, a tourist hotspot in Goa. She had turned 28 just a month before her death and had recently returned home to celebrate.
McLaughlin had previously volunteered at an orphanage in India and had plans to train as a yoga teacher while traveling.
Bhagat, whom McLaughlin knew, was arrested within hours of the discovery of her body.
In a statement, McLaughlin’s mother and sister said justice has “finally been achieved”, RTE reported.
The statement, issued by family solicitor Desmond Doherty on behalf of McLaughlin’s mother Andrea Brannigan and sister Joleen McLaughlin Brannigan, read: “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, Co 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.
“We are grateful to the court for allowing us, as is our right under the Indian legal system, representation at the trial.
“We wish to thank our lawyer in Goa, Mr Vikram Varma for attending to all that for us.
“We are also grateful to our lawyer back home, Desmond Doherty, who worked closely with Vikram in explaining to us the trial process and events at the trial.
“Without this joint legal representation we had, we would have been lost in the process. This was an eight-year murder trial that has been very tiring. We are glad it is over.”