Police serve mother of girl murdered in Goa with summons

The mother of a British teenage girl raped and murdered in Goa broke down in tears tonight after being served with a summons under the Goa Children’s Act by police.rs tonight after being served with a summons under the Goa Children’s Act by police.

The mother of a British teenage girl raped and murdered in Goa broke down in tears tonight after being served with a summons under the Goa Children’s Act by police.

Since the half-naked body of 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling was found on the beach in the resort of Anjuna on February 19, 43-year-old Fiona MacKeown has questioned the police handling of the inquiry.

Her lawyer, Vikram Varma, said tonight that Mrs MacKeown, from north Devon in England, was served with a summons at 10pm local time by two male police officers who went to her house.

The section of the Goa Children’s Act under which the summons was served requires adults to provide a safe environment for a child.

Mr Varma said the summons required Mrs MacKeown to make herself available at a special juvenile police unit at 10am tomorrow (local time).

“She will have to appear and they will take any kind of action they want,” said Mr Varma.

He said the police had chosen that section of the Act to harass Mrs MacKeown for exposing corruption in the police.

He said she could not believe that, having taken a stand for justice, she was being harassed by the State of Goa.

Scarlett had been staying with her boyfriend, Julio Lobo, a 25-year-old Goan tour guide, and his two aunts in Anjuna when she was last seen at a bar in the resort.

Her mother, six other younger children and her mother’s boyfriend – who arrived in November on a six-month holiday – were travelling elsewhere in the region when Scarlett was killed.

Mrs MacKeown has said she was naïve and trustworthy, but not negligent, for leaving her.

Scarlett was given a cocktail of hard drugs before she was attacked.

Inspector General of Police Kishan Kumar said their investigation had revealed “Scarlett was given ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and alcohol”.

Some days ago Mrs MacKeown, who lives near Bideford, wrote to the Indian Prime Minister expressing concerns about the police handling of the case.

Mr Varma said in Goa today that MPs there were now talking about conducting an inquiry “into the drug Mafia of which Scarlett was a victim”.

“Hopefully they will treat this matter seriously, hopefully this is a good sign,” he said.

Mr Kumar said there had been no further arrests, although the investigation was continuing.

Already in custody are Placido Carvalho, aged between 30 and 35, who has appeared in court on suspicion of drugging Scarlett and assisting in her murder by that act, who was remanded in custody for 14 days.

The first man they arrested, Samson D’Souza, 28, was remanded in custody for 14 days on suspicion of rape.

Police initially said the death of Scarlett was an accidental drowning.

A murder investigation was launched following a second post-mortem examination which showed she had been attacked, that was carried out after pressure from Scarlett’s mother.

Mrs MacKeown said in Goa tonight that she would be going to the juvenile unit tomorrow and making a statement.

She said the serving of the summons was “scaremongering”, adding: “I think I am getting very close to proving how corrupt they are.

“It is harassment,” she went on, adding that the police were “still covering themselves by saying the case is solved”.