EXCLUSIVE: Andrea Brannigan said it was 'surreal' to stand so close to Vikat Bhagat as he was convicted of Danielle's rape and murder in Goa in 2017
The mother of murdered Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin says it was “surreal” to stand so close to her killer Vikat Bhagat as he was convicted of her murder in an Indian courtroom.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Andrea said: “It was surreal to be that close to him, but he was wearing a mask over his face and he didn’t look at us.” Criminal Bhagat was arrested several hours after Danielle’s body was discovered by a local farmer in a field in a remote location in Goa on March 14, 2017.
Meanwhile, Bhagat is set to be sentenced today, with prosecution lawyers seeking the death penalty. Under Indian law, anyone found guilty of murder can be either sentenced to death or to life in prison. “She was so much more than a daughter, sister and best friend. She lit up every room she entered and touched the lives of all who met her. She brought so much good into this world and he so quickly took her from this world with his cruelty.”
They said they had Danielle in their lives for 28 years and wished they could have seen the woman she would have become but because of Vikat she will forever be 28.
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