India police covered up UK tourist murder: minister

NEW DELHI – Indian police deliberately covered up the murder of a 15-year-old British teenage girl who was found dead in Goa last month, the state’s tourism minister said on Monday.

NEW DELHI – Indian police deliberately covered up the murder of a 15-year-old British teenage girl who was found dead in Goa last month, the state’s tourism minister said on Monday.

Indian police originally insisted that Scarlett Keeling had drowned after taking drugs, but changed their story after Keeling’s mother kicked up a fuss and a second autopsy suggested she had been raped and murdered.

On Sunday, police arrested a man suspected of raping Keeling.

“This is a clear case of murder and it has gone out of proportion because the police tried to cover it up,” Francisco X. Pacheco, Goa’s Tourism Minister told Reuters.

Indian media said there may have been an attempt to play down the death to protect the state’s tourism industry — but this appears to have backfired.

“They should have arrested this man a long time ago and this issue would have got diluted, but now because of the tainted image of some police officers in the case, things have gone out of hand,” Pacheco said by telephone.

Senior police officers said they were investigating the allegations of a cover-up and the actions of junior officers.

“There are certain things under my scrutiny and I have taken cognizance of all these issues, specially these officers,” Kishan Kumar, a senior police officer overseeing the probe told Reuters.

“We have sufficient evidence against the person we have arrested regarding rape and the mystery of murder will be solved soon.”

The arrested man, Samson D’Souza, 29, reported to be a barman in a beach shack, is due to appear in court on Monday.

Keeling’s mother Fiona MacKeown always insisted her daughter had been raped and killed, and a second autopsy backed up her argument. It revealed bruises all over Keeling’s body, that her mouth was stuffed with sand and she did not have enough saltwater in her lungs to indicate drowning.

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

Tourism minister Pacheco said he was worried about the safety of foreign tourists in India.

“This case will definitely hurt tourism, because it has gone out of proportion and I have got so many calls from people outside India,” he said.

ca.reuters.com

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...