Article Updated: 14/03/2024
Thursday 14th March marks the seventh anniversary of the murder of Buncrana woman Danielle McLaughlin 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, who is 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.
Danielle McLaughlin and her sisters
To support that wish, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched by Danielle’s best friend Louise McMenamin to fund Danielle’s mother and sister’s trip to the sentencing in Goa. More than €1,200 was raised overnight following the Prime Time programme on Tuesday.
The money will go towards travel and safe accommodation in Goa for the end of the trial, while giving the family a chance to face the accused. They also wish to visit the site where Danielle was murdered and abandoned and also to meet some of Danielle’s friends in the area and their Indian legal representation.
The trial, which has been plagued by time delays, is scheduled to conclude in July.
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
Louise thanks everyone in advance for the donations and hopes the end of the trial and visit to India will finally bring some much needed closure to Andrea and the girls.
