Family’s anger over murder of woman on honeymoon

RELATIVES OF murdered honeymooner Michaela McAreavey have accused the Mauritius authorities of lies and disrespect as they prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.

The 27- year- old was strangled in her hotel room on the Indian Ocean island on January 10 2011.

The Co Tyrone teacher, who had been married 10 days earlier, was attacked as she returned to her room alone and disturbed a burglary.

Two former workers at the luxury resort – Sandip Moneea and Avinash Treebhoowoon – were acquitted after a high- profile trial on the holiday island in the summer of 2012.

Mrs McAreavey’s widower, John, has led a long campaign for justice on behalf of her loved ones.

They have accused the Mauritian authorities of being more interested in preserving the island’s reputation as a holiday destination than catching her killers.

She was the only daughter of all- Ireland winning Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte and ahead of the anniversary, the Harte and McAreavey families insisted their determination to secure justice is undiminished a decade on.

In a joint statement they said: “Over the course of the past 10 years, whilst learning to live with the massive loss of Michaela in our lives, we have also had to endure sheer frustration in the face of multiple bare- faced lies from the Mauritian authorities that justice will be served in this case.”

It is understood that Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has also yet to receive a substantive response to a letter he wrote to the island’s authorities.