Court clears pair in rape and death of British teen in Goa

PANAJI, India: Two Indian men were cleared Friday of the rape and homicide of 15-year-old British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling whose bruised and semi-naked body was found on a Goa beach eight years ago.
Friends and relatives of the two accused, Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho, cheered as the verdict was read out in a packed courtroom in the state capital Panaji.
Scarlett’s mother Fiona MacKeown said she was devastated by the outcome and promised to fight to overturn the verdict.
D’Souza and Carvalho had been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, using force with intent to outrage a woman’s modesty and of administering drugs with intent to harm.
They both broke into smiles as Judge Vandana Tendulkar told the packed courtroom: “I find them not guilty of all charges.”
The softly-spoken judge’s verdict was barely audible over the din of journalists and ceiling fans in the tiny courtroom which was painted pink.
Scarlett’s body was found on the popular Anjuna beach in the north of the small Indian tourist state, popular with Western hippies.
The teenager’s death became international news, shining a spotlight on the seedy side of the resort destination and also drawing attention to India’s sluggish justice system.
Police initially dismissed her death as an accidental drowning but opened a murder investigation after MacKeown pushed for a second autopsy which proved she had been drugged and raped.
It showed that Keeling had suffered more than 50 injuries to her body.
The trial began in 2010 but was dogged by numerous delays, including hearings of just one afternoon a month due to a backlog of cases and a public prosecutor withdrawing from proceedings.
MacKeown and her family were on a six-month holiday to India when she, Keeling and her other daughters went on an excursion to the southern state of Karnataka, but Keeling later returned alone to attend a party.
Her body was found on the morning of Feb. 18, 2008.
Police alleged that D’Souza and Carvalho plied Keeling with a cocktail of drink and illegal drugs, including cocaine, before sexually assaulting her and leaving her to die by dumping her unconscious in shallow water where she drowned.