QR code on tree in India links to webpage in memory of murdered Irish backpacker

It was the first time her mother, Andrea Brannigan, made the trip from their home in Donegal to India, to follow in her daughter’s footsteps and see the things she had seen.

Locals created a shrine for Danielle at the tree, carefully etching a giant mandala onto the bark with #truthfordanielle written underneath it, alongside flower garlands and photos.

Danielle’s family immediately recognised the place where her body was found from crime scene photos.

“We tried to feel what she would have felt. And we realised she must have been really scared. It would have been very dark," Ms Brannigan said.

It was hard. We went with flowers and a QR code you can scan which tells you about Danielle, so now anyone who goes there can scan it and see what kind of person Danielle was. 

Another QR code is to go to Danielle’s grave in Buncrana, Co Donegal, over the coming days.

A video of Danielle smiling and laughing on her travels plays alongside photos and a written tribute.

“She was the person that made you smile on a bad day, the person we went to with problems, a protector, a listening ear or even a helping handno job too little or too hard would stop her from helping,” the webpage says.

“She brightened every room she entered with her smile. Her legacy will live on through all that met her and hearts she touched.

“She tried to be kind to everyone she met, treated everyone equal and went out of her way to help others even when she didn’t need to.” 

Danielle had volunteered in an Indian orphanage and fell in love with the country and its people.

She had returned to study yoga just two weeks before her death.

She was in Goa celebrating the Hindu Holi festival — the festival of colours, which symbolises the triumph of good over evil, light over dark — with friends on March 13, 2017.

The 28-year-old’s body was found in a field in southern Goa on March 14.

An autopsy showed the former Liverpool John Moores University student suffered cerebral damage and constriction of the neck, causing her death.

Ms McLaughlin’s mother had been fighting for justice for her daughter since then.

“We got to see the beauty that she had seen there,” Ms Brannigan said after returning from an arduous seven-day trip for her daughter’s killer’s sentencing.

“She'd seen a lot of beauty there. She loved India. And the people there were all lovely.

“The police and the public prosecutors were all so welcoming too. And you realized that she meant something to them too.

“She did matter over there.

“And they said in court that she didn’t just matter because she was a foreigner, that she mattered as a woman because every woman mattered.” 

Vikat Bhagat, aged 31, received two life sentences — one for murder with a second life sentence for rape — and a further two years for the destruction of evidence at the District and Sessions Court in south Goa on February 17.

However, the sentences are to run concurrently, and Bhagat can apply for release after 14 years in prison. He has already spent seven years in prison.

Seeing her beautiful, kind, compassionate, hard-working daughter’s killer in court was difficult for them all, Ms Brannigan said.

“You saw that he has no remorse. That was very hard. He didn't show any emotion.” 

Ms Brannigan, her daughter Jolene, and Danielle’s best friend Louise sat within feet of Bhagat throughout the sentence hearing.

“The courtroom was very small. But he didn’t look at me. He didn’t speak to me. He could have, there were opportunities, but he didn’t,” Ms Brannigan said.

But when Danielle’s sister Jolene and friend Louise spoke, he reflexively looked at them.

“He must have heard their voices and thought they sounded like her [Danielle]. He remembered her voice.” 

Danielle had trusted Bhagat, believing he was a friend.

“Danielle always had male friends at home, she thought he was like them. But he wasn’t.

“I wish to God she'd never met him, that she’d never trusted him.” 

One of Bhagat’s sentences includes ‘rigorous labour’.

“So he’ll have to work 14 hours a day in prison,” Ms Brannigan said.

“And he has to move to a different part of the jail where he will not have the control he had before. He started riots in jail there. He is not a good person.” 

Bhagat's lawyer has said that he plans to appeal his conviction and sentence.

“This appeal will take two years to go to court," Ms Brannigan said.

“But it will not be a full trial again, he can only appeal on certain points which is not as bad. 

“And we knew he’d appeal so it wasn’t a shock.

“And I’m hoping life means life now and not just a few years.” 

Ms Brannigan is now hoping for an inquest into Danielle’s death to be held in Donegal.

“Because Danielle was murdered abroad we’re not automatically entitled to one. But it has happened a few times before so we’re hoping it can happen for her," she said.

We’ve never heard a doctor or coroner explain her postmortem. We were just handed the files. We never had a victim liaison officer. And we’ve never been able to talk about Danielle in an official court. Victim impact statements were not allowed in India.

Danielle’s anniversary is fast-approaching on March 13.

And Ms Brannigan still wants to get Danielle’s diaries back from India, where they had been kept for the trial.

“I will not read them because they were private. But I want to keep them and the girls [Danielle’s sisters] might want to read them one day.

“Danielle always kept a diary. She’d go to the library at home for an hour to write in it every day. We’d meet for coffee when she was there.

“She was a big reader and she loved writing.

“I miss her. I miss talking to her. 

“But I'm just glad the trial is over. Hopefully now I can grieve properly. Before, it was just all a fight. 

“I’m still trying to take it in. I don’t know how I feel.

“It’s very surreal. It doesn’t feel like it was only a week ago that he was sentenced.”