Two charged with Brit teen murder: Indian police

Posted 03 14 2008 7:45AM

PANAJI, India (AFP) - Police in the Indian coastal state of Goa said Thursday they have charged two men with the murder of a British teenager whose partially naked body was found on a beach.

Police inspector general Kishan Kumar told a news conference that Scarlett Keeling, 15, was fed with a deadly cocktail of drugs, raped by one of the men and then left for dead at the Anjuna beach tourist spot.

The suspects were named as local barman Samson D'Souza, 29, and Placido Carvalho, an alleged drug dealer working the beaches of the former Portuguese colony.

The police official alleged D'Souza was seen by a witness "raping the girl" before "he took the girl towards the beach... then he assaulted the girl there also."

Keeling then fainted and died of a combination of exhaustion, assault and the drugs fed to her by the two men, he said.

"Samson had evil designs on the girl from the very moment he saw her," Kumar said.

Although Carvalho was not present when she died, he was also charged with murder because of "common intention," Kumar said.

"Placido Carvalho administered drugs heavily into the girl," he added.

Keeling's bruised and partially naked body was found on the beach more than three weeks ago.

Police initially said she had drowned in the Arabian Sea, but a second autopsy demanded by Keeling's mother, 43-year-old Fiona MacKeown, prompted the murder investigation after it pointed to as many as 50 wounds on her body.

In the face of allegations of police incompetence and a cover-up, Kumar also confirmed that a police officer involved in the early stages of the probe had been suspended from duty and was under investigation.

MacKeown, however, said she was still not satisfied with the police work.

"I do believe there are more people involved," she said.

"My daughter has been a victim of a nexus between powerful criminals and some officers of the Goa police. The arrest of two low-level persons, to my mind, is certainly not a completion of the investigation," she said in a statement.

Vikram Varma, a lawyer for Keeling's mother, said earlier Thursday that there was "a clear drug mafia operation on the coast of Anjuna."

"Why are police not breaking this mafia? Nothing can bring back her daughter to life but these criminals who walk free and manipulate the law need to be brought to justice."

Official Kumar said the police would also investigate the narcotics trade.

"The larger question of drug peddling is on our agenda," he told reporters.

Keeling's mother came to Goa from Devon in southwest England in November with seven of her nine children for a six-month stay.

The teenager had remained in Goa at the home of a 21-year-old local man while MacKeown and the rest of the family were travelling in neighbouring Karnataka state.

MacKeown has faced criticism for how she cared for her daughter, with the teenager's alleged lifestyle of drink, drugs and sex played up in press reports.