A man has been found guilty in India of the rape and murder of Donegal woman, Danielle McLaughlin.
Local man Vikat Bhagat, aged 31, was found guilty at the District and Sessions Court in south Goa, India, today.
Ms McLaughlin, who was from Buncrana, had only been in India for two weeks in early 2017 when she was killed.
She turned 28 the month before her death and had been home for the celebrations.
On 14 March 2017, her body was found by a farmer in a field in a remote location near Canacona, a part of Goa popular with tourists. She had been raped and murdered.
Ms McLaughlin had previously spent time in India as a volunteer in an orphanage and was planning to learn to teach yoga while travelling.
Bhagat, who Ms McLaughlin knew, was arrested within hours of her body being discovered in 2017.
![](https://www.derrydaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DANIELLE-MURDER-SUSPECT.jpg)
Vikat Bhagat guilty of rape and murder of Danielle McLaughlin
The case was brought to court on more than 250 occasions with several lengthy delays.
Hearings sometimes lasted only 30 minutes on any given day, and on more than one occasion they were adjourned due to the unavailability of the suspect.
Ms McLaughlin held Irish and British passports and diplomats from both nations met with officials in Goa on several occasions to discuss her case.
She was buried in Buncrana, after her body was brought home to Donegal, with the help of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.
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