PANJIM: After nearly eight years of unwavering determination, justice has finally been served in the case of Danielle McLaughlin, the 28-year-old British-Irish backpacker who was raped and murdered in a forested area in Canacona on March 14, 2017. Vikram Varma, the lawyer representing McLaughlin's mother, Andrea Brannigan praised the exceptional work of the Goa Police, particularly the initial investigations by Police in gathering the required evidence.
Fast forward to February 17, 2025, when the South Goa District and Sessions Court sentenced Vikat Bhagat, a local man who had initially posed as the victim’s friend, to rigorous life imprisonment for her rape and murder, along with an additional three-year term for destruction of evidence, with all sentences to run concurrently. Vikram Varma, the lawyer representing McLaughlin's mother, Andrea Brannigan explained, In this particular case, it was done carefully knowing that the victim was a foreigner. Accused took the victim to a secluded spot in the jungle late at night where there would be no witnesses. The victim was raped and then brutally murdered.