Nearly eight years after raping and murdering a young Irish lady in Goa, an Indian court sentenced a 31-year-old man to life in prison on Monday.
The 28-year-old victim visited Goa in March 2017 and befriended Vikat Bhagat, the felon.
Reuters’ minority stakeholder ANI reported that investigating officer Filomeno Costa said, “Today the court has given the final verdict, life imprisonment to the accused.”
Her lawyer, Vikas Varma, claimed the body was found in a forest near Goa’s Palolem beach with various injuries, including to her face.
“Nothing can compensate the loss of a child, but the sentence has diluted the family’s grief,” Varma told Reuters.
The battle lasted nearly eight years, but justice was done.
The lawyer said forensic results showed the woman was raped and her face crushed with a beer bottle to prevent identification.
Media stated that Bhagat’s lawyers requested leniency in sentencing. Not immediately reachable by Reuters.
India strengthened rape laws and created fast-track special tribunals after the 2012 Delhi bus gang-rape and murder of a young woman rocked the nation. Over a decade later, the outlook is bleak.
India cut its planned number of such courts from 2,600 to 790 by 2026, according to Reuters investigations last year.
A Kolkata court sentenced a police volunteer to life for raping and killing a junior doctor at a hospital last month.
