Goa Man Held Guilty of Raping and Murdering Foreign Tourist

A Goa court on Friday found a 31-year-old man guilty of raping and murdering a British-Irish backpacker at Palolem beach in March 2017, bringing the curtain down on a grisly crime that rocked the coastal state and triggered sweeping concerns about the safety of women tourists.

- Gerard de Souza

PANAJI:

Margao district sessions judge Kshama Joshi found Vikat Bhagat guilty under sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder), and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on Monday.

"Accused is held guilty and convicted," Joshi said. The detailed order was yet to be made public.

The victim's family broke down; her tearful mother and sisters hugged and thanked investigating officers. "We have lost eight years of our life and we are so grateful that we can now start grieving her immeasurable loss," the family said in a prepared statement.

Vikat Bhagat, who was 24 at the time, was last seen in the company of the tourist on March 13, 2017, on the eve of Holi at Palolem, a coastal village in south Goa where she was staying with an Australian friend to celebrate the festival. Next morning, her unclothed body was found at an isolated location some distance from the beach.