Danielle McLaughlin grew up in Buncrana, County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland.She also held a British passport and studied earlier at Liverpool John Moores University.
She arrived in Goa in February 2017 and was brutally raped and murdered on Holi eve, on March 14, 2017.
While, the accused Vikat Bhagat confessed to the murder of Danielle, just soon after and the trial was supposed to be fast-tracked, it’s been six years now, but the family is still waiting for justice to be delivered.
The details of how Danielle was dealt with in her last moments by the accused Vikat Bhagat, can be found by just a cursory search. It’s too heinous and inhuman to mention it here.
If losing a family member in such a horrible and unexpected way was not enough of a tragedy to deal with for the family and friends of Danielle McLaughlin, the prolonged hearing in the case has been even more traumatic for them. On a new hearing date, the tragedy unfurls repeatedly as the hope is crushed.
Every new hearing date brings back to the fore, the pain and anguish of the sudden tragic death of Danielle in the minds of family and friends. It’s like revisiting the horrors and the monster, again and again, every three weeks; with no respite seen coming.
Over a period of time, time heals every pain; but how the healing of Danielle’s family members can happen, when the pain comes back, every three weeks or so.
The judge has been changed, Public Prosecutor has changed; but unless the State government of Goa, decides that enough is enough the horrors will continue.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who now boasts of being one of the longest serving Chief Ministers of Goa, was sworn-in on March 19, 2019 just about 18 months after Danielle’s trial began.
Time and again, presentation to him is being made to fast-track the trial by the senior diplomats of both Ireland and United Kingdom.
Ironically, he has a teenage daughter too. It is expected from a father of a teenage daughter, to see that tears of another mother stop flowing every three weeks. The mother of a daughter, who loved Goa so very much, probably died because of her the love for Goa.
Sometimes the accused is not produced from the jail, Sometimes the defence lawyer is not present, Warrants served but witness do not present, Inspector General of Police does not reply to Courts order on time. The agonies of this 6 year old are just too many to mention.
Danielle’s rape and murder trial is not just about her friends and family members only, it’s also about Danielle. She was a tourist who came to go, because she loved the State and everything it had to offer.
But the brutality of few people here cost her life and is now costing her “justice”.
Danielle is not here to answer the question personally, but if she would have been asked whether she still loved Goa, the answer would have been an unequivocal “yes”.
The longest murder trial in Ireland is the trial of Catherine Nevin. Catherine Nevin was a prominent figure in the case known as the “Black Widow” trial, which involved the murder of her husband, Tom Nevin, in 1996. The trial began in October 2000 and lasted for 42 days. Catherine Nevin was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Danielle’s trial is about every tourist, domestic and foreign, who come to Goa for the love of it. The Chief Minister, who is himself a father of a daughter, has the duty to ensure that Danielle gets justice and no other Danielle has to suffer again.
