This was no drowning - my Scarlett was raped and murdered, says mother of girl, 15, found dead on Goa's Hippy Beach From DAVID ORR in Anjuna, Goa - More by this author » Last updated at 19:45pm on 1st March 2008
Comments Comments It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime for 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling – swapping school and the British winter for an open-ended trip with her family to India. But the teenager's "life-enriching experience" ended in tragedy when her semi-naked and damaged body was found on a holiday beach. Indian police say Scarlett drowned by accident – but her devastated mother is convinced she was raped and killed. Scroll down to read more ... 'No accident': Scarlett Keeling's body was found half-naked and with ante-mortem injuries Now she is demanding that police launch a murder inquiry, saying: "This was no accident." Scarlett and her family – her mother, her partner and six other children – left their home in Devon in November for their dream trip and had been enjoying the hippy scene around Anjuna beach at Goa with the backpackers, New Age travellers and gap-year students who pack the Indian Ocean resort. The teenager had been jet-skiing on the ocean and on dolphin-spotting trips. She cruised beachfront cafes with her friends, sat round campfires and slept under the stars. But soon after dawn on Monday, February 18, Scarlett's body was found by locals at the ocean's edge. Her black-and-white bikini top was pulled up around her neck. Her body was covered with abrasions and she had drowned in shallow water. Since the day the body was found, Goan police have told Scarlett's family and local reporters that her death was a case of drowning by misadventure. But her mother, Fiona MacKeown, 43, has no doubt that Scarlett was murdered. She said: "Scarlett's death was no accident. "She was a very good swimmer – she grew up body-boarding near where we live. "Some people believe Scarlett was drunk on her last night, but I know my daughter, she wasn't a drinker. She just didn't like drinking." Scroll down to read more ... Trouble in paradise: Anjuna Beach in Goa has a seedy underside Mrs MacKeown has hired an Indian lawyer, Vikram Verma, to pursue what she calls "justice for Scarlett". Mr Verma said: "This is clearly a case of assault and murder, possibly of sexual assault and murder. "I'm convinced it's a case of assault and death due to asphyxiation. These two together usually mean murder." Even by Goan standards, Anjuna is one of the more laid-back and budget-friendly parts of the coast. In the words of one guide book, Anjuna is "the hippy heart of Goa". However, while most are here to enjoy the good life, there is a seedy underside. There is a sense that some – foreigners and Indians – come here to escape shady pasts back home, to prey on more innocent travellers and sell drugs. According to one knowledgeable local source interviewed by The Mail on Sunday, every year there are up to 20 mysterious deaths of tourists in Goa. But the local police station crime board shows there were just two reported murders last year. Neither was investigated successfully. The source, who did not want to be identified, said: "Mostly, the tourists are urged by the police not to pursue reported crimes and to return to their native countries." Scroll down to read more ... Gone south: Scarlett's mother, Fiona McKeown, had left her teenage daughter in the charge of a tour guide while the rest of the family travelled elsewhere On her last evening, Scarlett had been out with a girlfriend called Ruby. She was last seen alive in Lui's beachside cafe at about 4am on February 18. Mrs MacKeown's lawyer and the family believe their drinks were spiked. "She arrived with a beer bottle in her hand," said Anjuna Police Sub-Inspector Nerlon Albuquerque. "She fell down on entering the bar." One of the first to discover Scarlett's body was a local beach-shack worker, Richard Pereira. He says he walked on to Anjuna beach soon after six on the Monday morning and saw her body lying about 3ft from the water's edge. A group of locals was also there, looking at the body. Mr Pereira did not call the police but went off to a yoga class. By the time he returned, the police were at the scene. Scarlett's body had been dragged further up the beach and covered with a cloth. A Russian boy called Max identified the body as that of his friend, Scarlett, and went with police to try to find Scarlett's family. Mrs MacKeown, her boyfriend and other children, however, had gone on a trip south to the state of Karnataka a couple of weeks previously, leaving Scarlett in the care of Julio, a local tour guide in his 20s. "As far as I knew, it was no more than a working friendship," said Mrs MacKeown yesterday. "Scarlett was helping him out with his tour-guiding work. "Before we went on the trip south, Scarlett and I had an argument about her accompanying us. "She was so upset, saying she really wanted to stay in Goa, so I gave in. I thought they would be staying at his aunt's house." Before the family left, Mrs MacKeown asked her daughter and Julio if they were in a relationship. She says they both denied it, but she has since read Scarlett's diary which makes it clear that she was sleeping with Julio. It was Julio who alerted Mrs MacKeown to Scarlett's death in a mobile phone call. The family rushed back to Goa and Mrs MacKeown identified her daughter's body in the Anjuna morgue. An autopsy carried out by Goa's chief pathologist revealed that there were at least five ante-mortem abrasions: on her chin, above her left eye, on the back of her head, on her back and on one of her shins. Sand in her mouth and trachea indicated that she had drowned in shallow water. Dr Silvano Dias Sapeco confirmed that Scarlett had recently had sexual intercourse, though whether it was coercive was unclear. A liquid, probably fruit juice, was in her stomach. Some days after the discovery of Scarlett's body, Mrs MacKeown found, on a path near the beach, her daughter's panties, shorts and sandals, one of which had a broken strap. The last time Mrs MacKeown spoke to Scarlett was the night before her death. Scarlett had telephoned her and said she was well. She promised to head south to join the rest of the family the following day, as plans were being made to return home to England where Mrs MacKeown's eldest son had, a few days previously, been involved in a motor accident that left him with a broken neck and leg. Mrs MacKeown goes barefoot, has tattoos on her arms and a piercing in her lower lip. Back home near Bideford, the family lives off the land and Mrs MacKeown's smallholding. The home has no electricity and the family draws water from a borehole. Scarlett was a pupil at The Small School, an alternative secondary school in the village of Hartland. Mr Albuquerque said yesterday: "Our first view was that this was a drowning, but we haven't yet come to any conclusion. "What I know is that Anjuna is a peaceful place where no one would harm foreigners." Scarlett Keeling was "raped and murdered" 2 Mar: Mail on Sunday (UK). By David Orr in Anjuna. Indian police say Scarlett, aged 15, drowned by accident – but her mother, Fiona MacKeown, 43, has no doubt that Scarlett was murdered … Anjuna Beach in Goa has a seedy underside … There is a sense that some come here to prey on more innocent travellers and sell drugs … every year there are up to 20 mysterious deaths of tourists in Goa … tourists are urged by the police not to pursue reported crimes and to return to their native countries … Scarlett had been in the care of Julio, a local tour guide in his 20s. … Scarlett's diary makes it clear that she was sleeping with Julio. It was Julio who alerted Mrs MacKeown to Scarlett's death in a mobile phone call … Dr Silvano Dias Sapeco confirmed that Scarlett had recently had sexual intercourse, though whether it was coercive was unclear … Sub-Inspector Nerlon Albuquerque said, "Anjuna is a peaceful place where no one would harm foreigners." Text 1231 words and three photographs at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=523707&in_page_id=1770 No breakthrough yet into Brit teenager's murder 2 Mar: Herald. Anjuna police continues to grope in the dark regarding investigations into the death of a British teenager … Locals suspect that the teenager may have been killed at Dando and the body was later thrown into the sea to mislead the police to assume it to be a case of drowning … Sources revealed that the accused got in touch with some local politicians in an effort to pressurize the police … http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=381&cid=26 British teen raped, killed on Goa beach 2 Mar: Hindustan Times. … Scarlet's autopsy report — seen exclusively by Hindustan Times — details five large bruises on her shins, head and forearm that occurred before she died. The report establishes that her lungs were not full of salt water, rather there was sand in her mouth and throat. Reports suggest she also had sexual intercourse. … "The police is not here to protect us as tourists and make Goa safe," her mother said. "They are just here to make money. There must be more awareness of the dangers that exist in this beautiful place." 289 words. http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=23380ac8-e4e6-417f-9a1b-c54416b6cd10&MatchID1=4666 [Thanks to Eddie Fernandes of http://www.goanvoice.org.uk for the links]
