Goa police detain three men over British teenager murder
Sunday, 09 Mar 2008 20:21
Three detained over murder of UK teenager Scarlett Keeling in Goa, India
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Police in Goa are interrogating three men in connection with the murder of a UK teenager in the western Indian state.
The body of Scarlett Keeling was found half-naked on a beach in Anjuna on February 18th, but police have only recently acknowledged she was murdered.
A second post-mortem discovered more than 50 bruises over the 15-year-old's body, going against the original police line the teenager had drowned after drinking too much.
Scarlett, from Bideford, Devon, had been in Goa since last November, when she arrived on a holiday with her mother Fiona MacKeown and five brothers and sisters.
A police source said the three men being spoken to were likely to be formally arrested.
"We have pinned them down because they are always loitering around in the beach belt and their conduct was suspicious," he said.
"They became friendly to her during her three-month stay."
The unnamed official added that police were looking for a further four men.
Ms MacKeown said she had "mixed feelings" about her daughter's death being investigated as murder.
"I am hugely relieved as we have got past the first hurdle to prove it was murder," she told Sky News.
"I feel kind of empty and flat but relieved as well, it's a funny mix of feelings."