Danielle McLaughlin was only two weeks in India in early 2017 when her was life was ended in horrific circumstances.
On 14 March her body was found at 8AM local time by a farmer in a field in a remote location near Canacona, a part of Goa popular with tourists. She had been raped and murdered.
Danielle had turned 28 the month before she was killed, and had been home in Buncrana in Donegal for the celebrations. There, she spoke of her plan to head to India the following month for the Holi, the Hindu festival of colours.
It wasn’t to be her first trip to the country. She had spent time there previously as a volunteer in an orphanage, and was planning to learn to teach yoga while travelling.
That never came to be.
A 24-year old suspect – a local man who Danielle knew – was arrested within hours of her body being discovered.
In the seven years since, the wheels of the Indian justice system have been turning slowly for him and Danielle’s heartbroken family.
He has spent much of the time in prison. The case has been brought to court on more than 250 occasions. Hearings have sometimes lasted only half-an-hour on any given day, and on more than one occasion they have been adjourned due to the unavailability of the suspect.
The evidence of some witnesses has been heard, but evidence of others has yet to be given.
“It’s just so draining that we just want it over and done with,” Joleen, Danielle’s younger sister, told Prime Time, in her home in Donegal.
“We don’t really know what’s going to happen,” she added.
On the day Joleen spoke to Prime Time, the case was due for another hearing 8,000 kilometres away in a court in the city of Margao in Goa.
Nothing happened.
The case will next have a hearing this Thursday, when the evidence of a doctor is due to be taken.
It is moving quicker recently than in the past: a higher court in India directed in 2023 that the trial should be concluded in 2024.
“They say it should end this year, but we don’t really know, and we don’t want to have that hope that it will end because we have been let down so many times in the past,” Joleen said.
The eldest of six sisters, one of whom sadly died in infancy, Danielle held British and Irish passports. She had travelled to India on her UK document. Irish and British diplomats in Mumbai have met with officials in Goa on several occasions to discuss Danielle’s case.
While the Department of Foreign Affairs provides consular assistance to families who have lost loved ones abroad – including offering practical advice and information on legal and medical supports – it does not provide financial assistance.
The only way the McLaughlin family have been able to keep track of a legal process which will soon enter its eighth year is to pay a lawyer in India themselves.
“The trial used to be on twice a month. It is now on sometimes eight times a month,” said Andrea, Danielle’s mother.
“So, it is on more frequently compared to before. That is why I am hopeful that it could be ending this year.”
Joleen and Andrea said they hope to travel to India if the trial looks like it is nearing a conclusion.
Each 13 March is a special day of remembrance for their family. That is the date Danielle was last seen alive. On Wednesday, it will be seven years since her death.
“Danielle was just this amazing person. She was just so bright, she shone,” said Joleen.
“She was a great girl,” Andrea added. “She had so many friends in Buncrana, growing up. She worked hard in school. She was adventurous. She just adored her sisters.”
Danielle is buried in Buncrana, her body brought home to Donegal with the help of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.
“I remember when they crossed the border out of India, the Kevin Bell Trust, they contacted me and said ‘Andrea, she’s no longer in India, she’s coming home.’ I never was as happy to know my daughter’s coming home,” Andrea said.
The McLaughlin home is full of photographs of Danielle and Andrea’s other daughters. Ten years older than the rest, Danielle was adored by her sisters, who she lovingly referred to as ‘her girls.’
In Buncrana, her girls are still waiting for a conclusion.
“I don’t think people realise that all of these years later that we are still waiting,” said Joleen.
“Now, seven years later – nearly eight – my God, still nothing’s been done.”
The story of Danielle McLaughlin features on the Tuesday 12 March edition of Prime Time, broadcast at 9.35pm on RTÉ One television.
