A court in Goa has sentenced a 31-year-old local resident, Vikat Bhagat, to rigorous life imprisonment for the brutal rape and murder of Irish-British national Danielle McLaughlin in 2017. The sentencing was announced on Monday by District and Sessions Judge Kshama Joshi, following Bhagat's conviction last Friday.

According to PTI, the victim, a 28-year-old tourist from Donegal in Northwest Ireland, was found murdered in a secluded, forested area in Canacona village, South Goa, on 14 March 2017. The Goa police had charged Bhagat with raping and killing McLaughlin after spending an evening with her. As per PTI reports, he struck her with a stone, causing fatal head injuries, and left her body lying in a pool of blood.