A 21-year-old Australian man has pleaded guilty to murdering a young Indian woman, whose dismembered body was found in a Sydney canal last year. The body of Tosha Thakkar, 24, was found in the suitcase floating in a canal near the Parramatta River at Meadowbank by

some construction workers in March 2011. Police say she had been raped and then strangled, a crime which drew a shocked and furious response from the Indian community both in Sydney and overseas.

Burwood Local Court said that Daniel Stani-Reginald, who was Thakkar's neighbour, pleaded guilty to the murder. He was also charged with raping Thakkar. Stani-Reginald has not pleaded guilty to this charge. The two were living in the same apartment building and Stani-Reginald was arrested soon after Thakkar's body was found.