NEW DELHI: A court in India’s western Goa state on Monday sentenced a 31-year-old man to life in prison for raping and murdering an Irish woman at a popular tourist resort nearly eight years ago.
The body of 28-year-old Danielle McLaughlin was found by a farmer on a beach popular with holidaymakers in Goa in March 2017. An autopsy showed that cerebral damage and constriction of the neck caused her death.
Vikat Bhagat was found guilty of the crime on Friday. McLaughlin’s family in a statement had said they and her friends were “thankful to the public prosecutor and the investigating officer for justice.”
Usually, rape victims cannot be named under Indian law. In this case, the victim’s family spoke to the media to raise awareness of her case.
The crime highlighted persistent violence against women in India despite tougher laws against sexual assault imposed after the 2012 death of a young woman who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi.
Goa is a popular backpacking destination in India. Millions of tourists visit its numerous beach resorts every year.
Goa man receives life sentence for rape and murder of Irish backpacker
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Goa man receives life sentence for rape and murder of Irish backpacker
- The body of Danielle McLaughlin was found by a farmer on a beach in Goa in March 2017
- Crime highlighted persistent violence against women in India despite tougher laws against sexual assault
WHO appeals for $1 bn for world’s worst health crises in 2026
- The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going
GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world’s 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going.
WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva: “A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care.
“In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases,” he warned.
“Yet access to care is shrinking.”
The agency’s emergency request was significantly lower than in recent years, given the global funding crunch for aid operations.
Washington, traditionally the UN health agency’s biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country’s one-year withdrawal notice.
Last year, WHO had appealed for $1.5 billion but Ihekweazu said that only $900 million was ultimately made available.
Unfortunately, he said, the agency had been “recognizing ... that the appetite for resource mobilization is much smaller than it was in previous years.”
“That’s one of the reasons that we’ve calibrated our ask a little bit more toward what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have,” he said.
The WHO said in 2026 it was “hyper-prioritising the highest-impact services and scaling back lower?impact activities to maximize lives saved.”
Last year, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, “cutting 53 million people off from health care.” Ihekweazu said.
“Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine,” he added, stressing that “people should never have to make these choices.”
“This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world.”
