‘Scarlett was drugged, beaten, raped, and left for dead,’ suspect confesses to police

By DAVID WILLIAMS – More by this author »
Last updated at 19:16pm on 13th March 2008
British teenager Scarlett Keeling was drugged, beaten, raped and left for dead, one of the men linked to the horrific attack is said to have confessed to Indian police.

The revelation came as a third person was arrested today on suspicion of the 15-year-old’s murder. The boy has not been named.

Drug dealer Placido Carvalho, the second man to be arrested in the probe, is alleged to have broken down and admitted under police questioning that he forced the 15-year-old blonde to take Ecstasy, LSD and cocaine before a barman beat her unconscious and raped her near his bar on Goa’s popular Anjuna beach.

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Detectives believe that Scarlett, whose mouth was filled with sand, and had been rendered helpless by a cocktail of drugs and the beating, then died in a shallow beach pool.

Details of the shocking death were revealed today by Inspector Kishan Kumar as Carvalho, 48, was remanded in custody by a court for 14-days on suspicion of supplying drugs, assault and murder.

Insp. Kumar said Mrs MacKeown could still be investigated for leaving her daughter at the resort while the rest of the family travelled elsewhere in India.

The officer also revealed that the policeman who originally handed the investigation into the death and said Scarlett had drowned as part of an elaborate cover-up had been suspended.

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But despite the revelations Fiona MacKeown, whose suspicions her daughter was drugged and murdered led to a second post mortem that confirmed her worst fears, said she believed police were still covering up aspects of the crime to protect powerful drug dealers operating along the popular Goan coastline.

“I believe the people arrested are the small fish,” she said. “I do believe they were there that evening with my daughter and I believe they probably drugged and raped her – but I do not believe they were the only ones involved.

“There is a clear nexus between criminals and officers of the Goa police.”

Barman Samson D’Souza, 28, appeared in court on Monday in connection with the attack on February 18 near Lui’s beach bar and has been remanded in custody. At least four other men are being sought, police say.

Insp. Kumar said Scarlett, who was on a six month break in Goa with her mother and six brothers and sisters, had been unable to defend herself because of the drugs and had been subjected to a “brutal sexual assault.”

He alleged Scarlett had wandered drunk into the bar.

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“Carvalho forced drugs on her – two ecstasy tablets, LSD and cocaine – while she was in the restaurant’s kitchen,” he said.

“At 4am D’Souza took the girl outside and at 4.45am he was witnessed continuously sexually assaulting the girl behind the bar and close to the parking lot.

“There was no movement from the girl, who was semi naked, because she was heavily drugged and unconscious.”

D’Souza then dragged Scarlett towards the sea as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

Insp Kumar continued: “He hauled her by torchlight about 150 metres down the beach, dumped the girl in the shallow water and ran away. She was half dead when he dumped her but the last act of killing her was leaving her to drown in the shallow water.”

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Carvalho, known locally as Shanaboy, was arrested on Wednesday night on charges of rape, murder, supply of drugs and under various sections of the Children Act.

He had originally told police he was at Lui’s shack until 2 am on the night Scarlett died, after which he went home. However, eyewitnesses say they saw him much later.

Mrs MacKeown, a mother-of-nine, from Bideford, Devon, has written to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention, as she feels the case has weakened, with the police sitting on vital medical tests for weeks to confirm the presence of drugs in Scarlett’s body.

“I think these guys will be released and it will be another farcical case where nobody gets charged for it,” she said.

“It is not the death of one girl, but so many, many of these cases that has been hushed up.”

The family’s lawyer Vikram Varma claimed: “It seems the police are continuing to cook up a cock and bull story.

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“There is no forensic evidence because the tests have only just been sent to Mumbai for analysis. After this amount of time any rape drugs will have been absorbed by the body tissue.

“I suspect that in 45 days the suspects will be walking free because there is no evidence of drugging. The evidence accumulated so far will make a feeble rape case.

“The Director General of Police must be held responsible for his officers’ actions. The conduct of the police has been murky throughout this case. There must be a full investigation.”

Scarlett’s case is the latest to highlight the safety of tourists in India. Tourism officials met recently to discuss attacks on tourists after at least seven foreign women and girls said they had been raped or molested.

The suspended officer, who originally investigated the Briton’s case, has been named as sub-inspector Nerlon Alberquerque.

It is the second time that he has come under suspicion. In 2005, he was investigated for allegedly trying to categorise a murder as suicide.

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

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