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| Goa judge clears men of Scarlett Keeling beach death | Goa judge clears men of Scarlett Keeling beach death |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A judge in Goa has cleared two men of the rape and culpable homicide of British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling in the Indian state in 2008. | A judge in Goa has cleared two men of the rape and culpable homicide of British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling in the Indian state in 2008. |
| Scarlett’s mother, Fiona MacKeown, told the Guardian she was devastated by Friday’s verdict, which came after years of delays, including a change of prosecutor. | |
| Any decision to appeal against the verdict sits with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, but MacKeown said she did not know if she had the money or the strength to continue with the lengthy legal battle. | |
| “I didn’t have any expectations, I tried not to because I didn’t want to be disappointed. I was so shocked because it just happened so quickly,” she told the Guardian. She said she had not heard the judge pronounce the verdict to a packed courtroom, “but I just knew by everybody’s reaction”. | |
| Scarlett’s bruised and half-naked body was found on the popular Anjuna beach in the north of Goa in February 2008. The 15-year-old had been at a Valentine’s Day beach party while the rest of her family had gone travelling. | Scarlett’s bruised and half-naked body was found on the popular Anjuna beach in the north of Goa in February 2008. The 15-year-old had been at a Valentine’s Day beach party while the rest of her family had gone travelling. |
| Police initially declared her death an accidental drowning, but MacKeown pushed for a second autopsy. A postmortem examination showed there was ecstasy, cocaine and LSD in the teenager’s body. It also showed 50 cuts and bruises, evidence of sexual assault, and too little water in her lungs for a drowning. | |
| After a police investigation two local men, Samson D’Souza, 30, and Placido Carvalho, 42, were charged with causing her death. It was alleged they plied her with drugs, raped her and left her unconscious on the beach metres from a bar in which the group had spent the evening drinking, and she subsequently died. | After a police investigation two local men, Samson D’Souza, 30, and Placido Carvalho, 42, were charged with causing her death. It was alleged they plied her with drugs, raped her and left her unconscious on the beach metres from a bar in which the group had spent the evening drinking, and she subsequently died. |
| Both men denied charges of culpable homicide and grievous sexual assault. | Both men denied charges of culpable homicide and grievous sexual assault. |
| MacKeown said she was angry with the Indian justice system: “There’s never been any justice for a tourist murdered in this country. The attitude is, if you go out at night wearing shorts, you deserve to be raped and murdered,” she said. | MacKeown said she was angry with the Indian justice system: “There’s never been any justice for a tourist murdered in this country. The attitude is, if you go out at night wearing shorts, you deserve to be raped and murdered,” she said. |
| MacKeown has had to endure lurid allegations about Scarlett’s drug use and sex life, questions over her parenting – she was travelling in another Indian state at the time of her daughter’s death – and the near-collapse of the case when a key witness, Briton Michael Mannion, pulled out in August. | MacKeown has had to endure lurid allegations about Scarlett’s drug use and sex life, questions over her parenting – she was travelling in another Indian state at the time of her daughter’s death – and the near-collapse of the case when a key witness, Briton Michael Mannion, pulled out in August. |
| In his initial statement Mannion told police he had seen D’Souza lying on top of Keeling in the car park of the bar in which they had spent the night drinking. | |
| MacKeown has accused local police and government officials of protecting the defendants, or trying to protect Goa’s image as a tourist hub. | MacKeown has accused local police and government officials of protecting the defendants, or trying to protect Goa’s image as a tourist hub. |
| Reasons for the judgment are yet to be released. | Reasons for the judgment are yet to be released. |