Mum won’t take back girl’s bodyCalling It Murder, Demands 2nd Autopsy On Brit Teen Found Dead In Goa
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panjim:
A disheartened Fiona McKeown, whose minor daughter was found dead under
mysterious circumstances at the Anjuna beach in North Goa, has refused
to take her teenage daughter’s body home to Devon, UK, till the police
conduct a second autopsy. “I am absolutely convinced of foul play in my
daughter Scarlette Keeling’s death and want the police to conduct a
second autopsy. I suspect that my daughter was sexually abused and
assaulted,” said Fiona.
Her suspicions are not baseless as even the
autopsy report submitted by the police surgeon states that 15-year-old
Scarlette had abrasions on the forehead and eyelids and bruises on both
shins which were made with a blunt cousative weapon.
North Goa
superintendent of police Bosco George confirmed that he had received
the letter and said that he would request a second autopsy. “Meanwhile,
we are making arrangements to send the girl’s viscera and smear stride
and swabs for forensic tests at the forensic laboratory in Delhi,” he
said.
Though the Goa police at first dismissed the British girl’s
demise as death due to drowning, they are now examining if her death
was homicidal or accidental. “Within two days, we will give a report on
whether her death was homicidal or accidental. At present, we are
checking on the people who were last seen with the girl,” said SP
George.
According to the police, 15-yearold Scarlette was last seen
at Lui Café in Govekarwado, Anjuna, in the company of two men—a popular
restaurateur and a runner (local drug supplier), both from Anjuna, who
were known to her. A waiter at Lui Café confirmed this. “Scarlette was
at the café with two locals till about 4 am on February 18. She was in
an inebriated state and couldn’t even stand straight. Once we closed
the café at 4 am, she left with the two men,” the waiter revealed. At
7.15 in the morning, the police found her semi-naked body floating
along the Anjuna beach near Lui Café.
Locals who knew Scarlette
find it difficult to believe that she died due to drowning. “Her family
members are good swimmers and she wouldn’t have gone into the sea at
night, knowing very well the risks of swimming in a rocky area at
night,” said Richard Pereira, a local shack owner.
Even as the
locals described the girl as a friendly, warm person, they alleged that
there was a darker side to her personality. “She was heavily into
drugs. She used to pay for the drugs in kind as she had no cash,” a
local beach boy revealed. The mother admitted that Scarlette would
frequently experiment with charas, but she had never purchased it. “She
never had much money and always smoked charas in a group,” the mother
said.
Police officials investigating the case said that the family
had arrived in Goa on November 22 last year and was regularly seen at a
shack named Curlie’s in Dando, Anjuna, which is owned by Anjuna
sarpanch Edwin Nunes aka Curlie. “She was friendly with Curlie and his
friends Roy and Julio and would go as an escort with customers for the
dolphin and crocodile trips that Roy and Julio organised. But she was
never paid for the job,” the mother said.
However, Curlie denies
personally knowing the girl and her family. Interestingly, there are
complaints of alleged illegal activities at Curlie’s which Mapusa
police are investigating. “We are keeping a watch on all activities at
Curlie’s,” said the DSP of Mapusa, Subhash Goltekar.
The Goa State
Commission for Children, shocked at the turn of events, has decided to
take up the matter with the state government. “We are studying the
matter and we will follow up with the police and the state government,”
said Chairperson Uday Ballikar.


The Times of India, March 4, 2008,Times Nation Page 13