Tomorrow marks the seventh anniversary of the murder of Buncrana woman Danielle Mc Laughlin in Goa, India.
To this day, her mother Andrea and sisters cannot move on as they wait for justice.
A trial of a local man, Vikat Bhagat, accused of Danielle’s rape and murder had its 254th hearing last week.
A higher court has directed that the trial concludes this year, but Danielle’s family have mixed emotions as they struggle to build hope. They have not yet travelled to India, but have been employing a lawyer there since the trial began.
“It’s just so draining,” Danielle’s sister Joleen told RTE’s Prime Time. “We just want it over and done with. We don’t really know what is going to happen and we don’t want to have that hope that it will end because we’ve been let down so many times in the past by everyone.”
“Our dream is that we will go out for the verdict,” Joleen said.
To support that wish, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched by Danielle’s best friend Emma Louise McMenamin to fund Danielle’s mother and sister’s trip to the sentencing in Goa. More than €1,200 has been raised since last night’s Prime Time programme.
Andrea said that positive steps are being made as the trial sittings become more frequent this year. “Sometimes eight times a month, that’s why I’m hopeful that it could be ending this year,” she said.
Joleen added: “There’s no other case of murder in Goa that we can compare it to. After he was arrested we thought there shouldn’t be a big hold up. All of a sudden years have passed. It felt like such a long road that’s never ending.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it “remains actively engaged on this case and continues to provide consular assistance.”
Visit the GoFundMe page here: https://gofund.me/da4aa8f6
