Backpacker raped, murdered and left at side of the road
THE body of a Scots-born backpacker was found battered and lying in a pool of blood near an Indian beach, a court has heard.
Danielle McLaughlin, 28, had been travelling in southern India when she was murdered and her body dumped on an isolated road in South Goa in March 2017, it is claimed.
Local man Vikat Bhagat, 23, was charged with her murder after allegedly trying to force himself on Danielle at a secluded spot between the Canacona and Agonda beaches. The pair were seen together on CCTV in the hours before her death.
Bhagat initially confessed to police following his arrest but last May he wrote a 29-page open letter denying he was responsible and insisting others carried out the attack.
He claimed the confession was beaten out of him by police who forced him to incriminate himself by putting his fingerprints on beer bottles.
But Indian prosecutors compiled a 374-page charge sheet against Bhagat, including statements from 68 witnesses.
His trial began yesterday in Margao district court in South Goa but heard evidence from only one witness during the 90-minute hearing.
The prosecution told how Glasgow-born Miss McLaughlin had last been seen with local men enjoying Holi, a religious festival which is observed in the state.
But the court heard how a local gardener had stumbled upon the body on March 14, 2017, and found she had a severely mutilated face. Prashant Komarpant said: ‘At about 7am, I was shell shocked to see the corpse lying there.
‘I immediately informed the police after seeing the body as I instantly suspected foul play.
‘I also called my friend to inform him about the body. The police arrived at the spot within 20 minutes with their dog squad.’
Bhagat was charged in June 2017 with murder, rape, theft and destruction of evidence after his apparent confession to the crime. The court heard the charge sheet read that Bhagat had hit her on the head with a beer bottle, raped and then strangled her.
It adds Bhagat then smashed the victim’s face with a stone to destroy evidence.
The accused had run in to court to avoid the cameras after being brought from a correctional facility where he is being held.
Bhagat previously insisted the killing was carried out by three men who approached them on motorcycles as they walked along the road together. Police interviewed the three men named by Bhagat but ruled them out of the investigation.
Miss McLaughlin’s mother Andrea Brannigan, from Buncrana, Ireland, also had legal representation at the short hearing after a plea to the judge from the family to observe the proceedings.
Last March, Miss McLaughlin’s funeral took place in Donegal, where the family had moved from Scotland.
The case continues next week.