28-year-old Donegal woman Danielle McLaughlin was raped and murdered in India in March 2017.

Vikat Bhagat has been convicted in India of the March 2017 rape and murder of Co Donegal woman Danielle McLaughlin.

Bhagat, 31, was found guilty at the District and Sessions Court in south Goa on Friday. He faces life imprisonment, with prosecutors calling for the death penalty. His sentencing is due to commence on Monday, February 17.

The judgment comes nearly eight years after Danielle's body was discovered by a farmer in a field in Canacona, a popular tourist area in South Goa on March 14, 2017.

Born in Glasgow and raised in Buncrana in Co Donegal, Danielle was a dual British-Irish citizen who entered India on her British passport in February 2017.

In the lead-up to her murder, Danielle had traveled to Goa with an Australian female friend and the pair were staying in a beach hut. They had been celebrating the Hindu spring festival Holi at a nearby village.

Danielle's body was found "lying in a pool of blood without clothes and there were injuries on the head and face", Deputy Superintendent of Police Sammy Tavares said at the time. He later said that a post-mortem confirmed that the Irish woman "was raped before the murder."

Bhagat, who was arrested the day after Danielle's body was discovered, confessed to the rape and murder.

"She didn't deserve what he put her through"

On Friday, Danielle's mother Andrea Brannigan and sister Joleen McLaughlin Brannigan were on hand for the delivery of the verdict. A GoFundMe launched last March to assist with their travel costs has raised more than €12k.

Speaking outside of the court in Goa on Friday following the verdict, Danielle's family told reporters that they are "so thankful to both embassies, public prosecutors, lawyers, and investigating officers involved in our fight for justice.

"They have treated her like their daughter and have tirelessly fought for her.

"We are so thankful that their hard work has paid off and that Bhagat has been found guilty of taking Danielle from us.

"We have lost nearly eight years of our lives fighting for Danielle and we are so thankful that we can now start grieving her immeasurable loss. 

"She made the most of her 28 years and lived every day to the fullest. She was so proud and always so happy, she didn't deserve what he put her through.

"We are so grateful to have been able to be here for the verdict and to see Goa, which Danielle loved so much."

"Danielle's truth has finally been heard"

In a statement issued on the Truth For Danielle Mc Laughlin social media page following the verdict on Friday, Danielle's family and friends further thanked all those involved in their fight for justice.

"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," the post says.

"She brought so much good into this world and he so quickly took her from this world with his cruelty."

"Danielle’s truth has finally been heard," they added.

"We are content now with the judicial confirmation"

In a statement issued via family solicitor Desmond Doherty on Friday, Danielle's mother and sister said: “There was no other suspect or gang involved in Danielle’s death and (Vikat) Bhagat was solely responsible for cruelly ending her beautiful life.

“We have endured what has been effectively an eight-year murder trial with many delays and problems, right until the end, all taking place thousands of miles away from Danielle’s home in Buncrana, County Donegal.

“We are content now with the judicial confirmation in public of what we already sadly knew. What further legal processes now take place we will observe."

'Closure'

Responding to the verdict on Friday, Ireland's Tanaiste Simon Harris said that in partnership with the UK, Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs – through the Embassy in New Delhi, Consulate General in Mumbai, and Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin – "has been consistently engaged on this case to seek progress towards a conclusion to the court case."

Harris said: "While nothing can ease the pain of their loss, I hope that this verdict represents some closure for the family."