Tourist deaths in Goa
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:46 am
Goa murder: 245 tourists died in four local districts in past 12 years
Friday 17 March 2017
- An Irish-British dual national whom police believe was murdered in Goa was one of more than 245 foreigners to die in four districts of the Indian state in the past 12 years, according to police records obtained by the Guardian.
A postmortem on the body of Danielle McLaughlin has revealed the 28-year-old had been sexually assaulted and strangled in the hours after leaving a party on Monday at Palolem beach, a popular spot in the south of the state.
Police say they have arrested and will charge a local man they have identified as Vikat Bhagat with her rape and murder. Bhagat, described as a local gang member, was seen with McLaughlin on CCTV footage the day before her death.
Records from the Goa police, obtained under India’s freedom of information laws, show that six other foreigners’ deaths were classified as murders in the Anjuna, Pernem, Mapusa and Canacona districts in the decade leading to August 2015.
Another 157 foreigner deaths were classified as natural or accidental, but a group of relatives of some of the tourists who died in the western Indian state say authorities have overlooked crucial clues in some cases that could point to foul play.
The statistics reveal a darker picture of the coastal paradise that more than 5 million tourists visited in 2016. There were 20 suicides in Pernem district. About 23 people drowned, while the cause of death for another 39 people is listed as “not known or pending”. Foreign men aged between 30 and 49 are most at risk of dying in the districts, the records show.
The families of at least six foreigners who died while holidaying in Goa have told the Guardian they question initial rulings that the deaths of their loved ones were natural or accidental...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... er-palolem
Friday 17 March 2017
- An Irish-British dual national whom police believe was murdered in Goa was one of more than 245 foreigners to die in four districts of the Indian state in the past 12 years, according to police records obtained by the Guardian.
A postmortem on the body of Danielle McLaughlin has revealed the 28-year-old had been sexually assaulted and strangled in the hours after leaving a party on Monday at Palolem beach, a popular spot in the south of the state.
Police say they have arrested and will charge a local man they have identified as Vikat Bhagat with her rape and murder. Bhagat, described as a local gang member, was seen with McLaughlin on CCTV footage the day before her death.
Records from the Goa police, obtained under India’s freedom of information laws, show that six other foreigners’ deaths were classified as murders in the Anjuna, Pernem, Mapusa and Canacona districts in the decade leading to August 2015.
Another 157 foreigner deaths were classified as natural or accidental, but a group of relatives of some of the tourists who died in the western Indian state say authorities have overlooked crucial clues in some cases that could point to foul play.
The statistics reveal a darker picture of the coastal paradise that more than 5 million tourists visited in 2016. There were 20 suicides in Pernem district. About 23 people drowned, while the cause of death for another 39 people is listed as “not known or pending”. Foreign men aged between 30 and 49 are most at risk of dying in the districts, the records show.
The families of at least six foreigners who died while holidaying in Goa have told the Guardian they question initial rulings that the deaths of their loved ones were natural or accidental...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... er-palolem