The mother of a British teenager found dead in India's resort state of Goa has revealed plans to ask London police to help investigate, a report said Sunday.
Fiona MacKeown is set to return to Britain Monday, taking her 15-year-old daughter Scarlett Keeling's body back for a funeral, after a six-week effort to spur Goa police to crack the mystery of her death.
"I will be asking for Scotland Yard's help in probing the case," she said, according to the Press Trust of India. Local police initially said Keeling had drowned after her bruised, partially naked body was found on a popular Goa beach on February 18, but pressure from her mother and the media forced them to reopen the case. MacKeown, who plans to have an autopsy on the body in Britain, has accused police of covering up evidence. She said she was pleased India's national women's rights agency had backed her claims.
"It is very reassuring that they are interested in looking into the case," MacKeown told reporters in the western city of Mumbai, where her daughter's body was flown on Thursday.
"It is a really positive thing to go home on." "She was brutally raped and there is every possibility that her head was dipped in the water," she added, alleging that police had destroyed evidence. "Police are trying to hide or close the case. We will never allow this to happen." Venkatesh said her report was based on interviews with police, forensic experts and local residents, and that she would submit a final report after a full probe.