Team Herald
PANJIM: The British Deputy High Commissioner and the Consul General of Ireland Western India has raised concerns over the pace of the trial in Danielle McLaughlin case and its impact on her family. The British and Irish diplomats have met the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and discussed the long running case of the British Irish girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in 2017 at Agonda, Palolem once again on Thursday.
Alan Gemmell, British Deputy High Commissioner and Anita Kelly, Consul General of Ireland Western India, met Sawant and senior officials on April 6 to raise the long-running case of British-Irish national Danielle McLaughlin, who was murdered in Goa in March 2017.
Gemmell and Kelly said after the meeting: “It has been six years since Danielle's murder in Goa in March 2017. Ensuring a quick conclusion to the court case is a significant priority for the British and Irish Governments as well as, of course, for Danielle's family. We have raised this case with relevant local authorities over the years and have come to Goa together to express our concern at the pace of the trial and its impact on Danielle’s family. We are grateful to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for being receptive to our appeal.”
Gemmell along with former Consul General of Ireland Gerry Kelly had previously called on Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on June 9 , 2022, to raise this case.
Andrea Brannigan, Danielle’s mother, said in a statement, “My precious daughter Danielle’s life was unexpectedly taken from her in a brutally savage attack over six years ago in Goa. I continue to push for a conclusion to the court case, in the hope that I may then try and rebuild me and my family’s lives with the knowledge that I have done everything in my power that I could possibly do to get justice for Danielle. I would like to thank the British High Commission and the Embassy of Ireland in India for continuing to raise Danielle’s case at the highest levels to ensure justice for Danielle.”
28-year-old British-Irish national, Danielle McLaughlin was allegedly raped and murdered in Canacona, Goa on March 14, 2017. A trial is currently ongoing at the District and Sessions Court in Margao of the accused, who was arrested by the Goa Police.
Sanna Cutter, aunt of the Finnish national Felix Dahl who died in suspicious conditions while reacting to this news said, “So far only one murder/rape case managed to get some guilty prosecuted and that took 10 years. That was Scarlett Keeling case which had many twists and turns on the way. After 8 years dealing with our case and talking with the other families of the victims in our group of killed tourists in Goa, it has come very apparent how these cases have been handled. It has been almost impossible to get justice when a tourist is murdered in Goa, especially when the accused is a local person,” she said.