Goa court convicts man for raping and killing a British-Irish backpacker: What was the 8-year-old case?

The case

The 28-year-old victim, a dual British-Irish citizen, had come to Goa with a friend for a holiday in February 2017. A former student of Liverpool John Moores University, she hailed from Buncrana in County Donegal in Ireland and had travelled to India on a British passport.

Her body was found in a pool of blood without clothes, and with injuries on head and face in a field near Palolem beach in South Goa’s Canacona on March 14, 2017. The night before she had attended a Holi party near the beach.

The complainant, a farmer, had told the police that around 7 am when he went towards his field, he saw an unknown foreigner lying with her head and face smashed.

The convict

Goa Police arrested a local, Vikat Bhagat, whom the victim had befriended during an earlier trip to Goa, in connection with the crime. Bhagat, who had a criminal record with theft, assault and robbery cases, was charged under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 394 (robbery) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of Indian Penal Code.

According to the police probe, between 10 pm and 7 am on the intervening night of March 13 and March 14, the accused – taking advantage of his friendship with the victim – took her in an open isolated field and sexually assaulted her. Police said he hit her with a glass bottle on her head and face, and killed her by compressing her neck. He subsequently robbed her mobile phone and destroyed the evidence.

During the probe, the witnesses told the police that the Irish woman had visited a beach joint along with the accused on March 13 night, and he was “last seen” with her.

A post-mortem had found that she died due to brain haemorrhage and constriction of the neck, and that she was raped before being murdered. The cause of death was due to “asphyxia as a result of compression of neck, cranio cerebral damage consequent to injuries over head and face which were ante mortem”.

The trial

The trial started in April 2018. In 2023, the High Court ordered the Sessions Court to complete the trial within a year. An extension was granted last October, which concluded on Friday.

The court has convicted Bhagat under IPC sections 302, 376, and 201. The court heard the arguments on quantum of sentence on Friday and is expected to pronounce its order on sentence on Monday.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the victim’s mother said, “We are very emotional after the verdict but so glad her voice was heard. It will never bring her back but we are glad he was found guilty. We are so thankful to the public prosecutors, lawyers, investigating officers for all that they have done fighting for her”.