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.
"I am reeling. It's been eight years of agony. I feel devastated and will definitely be challenging the verdict," McKeown, who looked shell-shocked as the ruling was delivered, said outside the court. 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." MacKeown told AFP she was aghast that they had also been let off the lesser charges, saying she had no faith in the Indian legal system. "The judicial system will support the criminals, not the tourists or victims. It seems that guys here can operate above the law and get away with murder," she said. 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.
The pony-tailed D'Souza was sitting just yards away from MacKeown when the verdict was read while Carvalho sat behind her at the back of the courtroom. A stunned MacKeown had trouble leaving the courthouse as she had to cope with a media scrum as she was escorted out by her lawyer and an aide from the British High Commission. Scarlett's body was found on the popular Anjuna beach in the north of the small Indian tourist state, popular with Western hippies.
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