British and Irish diplomats have met Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and expressed concern about the slow pace of the trial in the case of 2017 rape and murder of British-Irish national Danielle McLaughlin.
McLaughlin (28) was allegedly raped and murdered at Canacona in Goa in March 2017. A local man was arrested in the case and the trial is currently ongoing at the District and Sessions court in Margao.
British Deputy High Commissioner Alan Gemmell and Anita Kelly, Consul General of Ireland, Western India, met CM Sawant here on Thursday.
In a joint statement released after their meeting, Gemmell and Kelly said it had been six years since Danielle’s murder.
“Ensuring a quick conclusion to the court case is a significant priority for the British and Irish Governments as well as, of course, for Danielle’s family,” the statement read.
They had raised the case with the local authorities over the years and came to Goa together to express their concern about the pace of the trial and its impact on Danielle’s family, the two said.
“We are grateful to Hon’ble Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for being receptive to our appeal,” they added.
Andrea Brannigan, Danielle’s mother, said in a statement: “My precious daughter Danielle’s life was unexpectedly taken from her in a brutally savage attack over six years ago in Goa.”
“I continue to push for a conclusion to the court case in the hope that I may then try and rebuild my and my family’s lives with the knowledge that I have done everything in my power that I could possibly do to get justice for Danielle,” she added.
