A man who was found guilty of raping and murdering a 28-year-old Irishwoman who was backpacking in India has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Danielle McLaughlin, from County Donegal, was found dead in a field in the western state of Goa in March 2017.

Vikat Bhagat was convicted at the District and Sessions Court in south Goa, India, on Friday.

Prosecutors involved in the case had asked for Bhagat to be sentenced to death.

On Monday, the District and Sessions Court, in South Goa, Margao, sentenced Bhagat to “rigorous” life imprisonment for murder.

He also received a second life term for rape, and three years for destroying evidence. All the sentences will run concurrently.

Rape victims cannot usually be named under Indian law.

Their identities are often hidden in a bid to protect them from being shunned in society.

However, throughout their long campaign for justice, Ms McLaughlin’s family have spoken to the media to raise awareness of her case.

Her mother and sister travelled to Goa for the verdict on Friday.

Reacting to the conviction, Ms McLaughlin’s mother Andrea Brannigan said she was “glad and relieved” that the case was over.

“I lost my eldest daughter, she was stolen from us, she was stolen from her sisters and friends,” she said.

“She was also stolen the opportunity of becoming a mother herself.”

Ms Brannigan said her daughter would always be remembered for her “spirit, kindness and laugh”.

Ms McLaughlin grew up in Buncrana and later attended Liverpool John Moores University.

She travelled to India in February 2017, two weeks before she was murdered.

She was staying in a beach hut with an Australian friend and they went to a nearby village to celebrate Holi, a Hindu festival.

Ms McLaughlin left the village on the night before she was found dead.

Her body was discovered the next day by a local farmer in a field.

A post-mortem examination found that the cause of her death was brain damage and strangulation.

The Newry-based charity, the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, assisted her family to take her remains back to the Republic of Ireland.

She is buried in her hometown of Buncrana.