Scarlett's body still in morgue, awaiting India clearance

pti, panaji | 21 February 2010 16:19 IST

Scarlett & her mother Fiona

Two years after her tragic death, UK teenager Scarlett Eden Keeling’s body is still not be buried. The British authorities are still awaiting clearance from the Indian government to hand over the corpse, says victim’s mother Fiona Mackeown.

In an email interview, Fiona told PTI today that the coroner was waiting for the completion of paperwork from the relevant Indian departments. "The coroner has not released her body to me. She is still in the morgue in Exeter (city in Davon, UK)," said the mother.
She said that the coroner was waiting for the completion of paperwork from the relevant departments of the Indian government. The body was flown to UK in March 2008.
Two years ago, on 18 February, Scarlett's battered, semi-nude corpse was found on Goa's Anjuna beach. As of now, the case stands chargesheeted in the local court.
Two locals - Placido Carvalho and Samson D'Souza - are held accused in the case.
After initial goof-up, Goa police had later cracked the case. It had revealed that the teenager was offered drugs and left to die on the beach waters.
The case was finally handed over to Central Bureau of Investigtion (CBI) after consistent distrust by Fiona in state police.
Two autopsies were conducted of the body at Goa Medical College hospital, while the authorities in UK had carried yet another body investigation.
Few of the organs, which were left behind in India, were also sent to UK by Indian authorities after much delay. The organs were sent to UK in the last week of May last year.
"While the body of Scarlett rests in a morgue, the criminals responsible I presume are happy that the spirit of law lies buried below its letters," Vikram Varma, lawyer representing Fiona, told PTI today.
The lawyer was apparently frustrated over the investigating agencies' act of watering down the charges against the accused from murder to culpable homicide, not amounting to murder.


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