A 21-year-old Australian man was today sentenced to 45 years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years for the "planned and premeditated" rape and murder of Indian student Tosha Thakkar, who he strangled to death, stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in a canal. New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Derek Price sentenced Daniel Stani-Reginald to a maximum of 45 years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years.

With time served, he will be eligible for parole in March 2041. Stani-Reginald strangled 24-year-old Thakkar to death with a cable, stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in the canal off the Parramatta River on March 21, 2011, when he was aged only 19, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.