British Mother's Worst Fears Validated

ANJUNA, Goa, India, March 10, 2008 &#151 -- Fiona MacKeown did not believe her daughter's death was accidental, and in pushing for justice she uncovered not just a rape and murder, but also a possible cover-up by police.

On Sunday night, Indian police arrested a man in connection with the death of MacKeown's 15-year-old daughter, Scarlett Keeling. And today, the tourism minister of Goa, India, said Indian police deliberately covered up the murder of the British tourist.

Samson D'Souza, a 25-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of her rape Sunday. Under Indian law he must appear in court within 24 hours.

Keeling's partly naked and badly bruised body was found three weeks ago on Goa's popular Anjuna Beach, and authorities initially listed drowning as the cause of death.

But MacKeown did not believe that her daughter — a strong swimmer and bodyboarder — could have drowned. She made a public push for a second autopsy, including releasing graphic photos of her daughter's battered body from the first autopsy, which were printed in the local press.

Police relented and performed another autopsy. The report, released Saturday night, revealed that little water was found in the girl's lungs and that her mouth was full of sand. It was determined that the death was "homicidal in nature."

"I knew I was right all along, but to have it confirmed is a relief but hard. It's an odd thing, a mix of emotions," said MacKeown. "Just today, we went to the market while we were waiting for the report and it felt so empty. I knew it was coming, but what is it all about? It's the only thing that will make the police investigate, but it's not nice news though."

"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.

A mother of nine children ranging in age from 5 to 19, MacKeown, 43, had been vacationing in India from her home in Devon, England, with her boyfriend and six of her children for the last several months.

At the time of Keeling's death, MacKeown and here family were in a neighboring state while the teenager remained in Goa under the care of a guide named Julio Lobo, who a family spokesperson said is 25 years old, and Lobo's aunt.

Local press and bloggers have questioned the decision to leave the 15-year-old behind with a man, and various reports have labeled MacKeown as crazy, irresponsible and naive.

"I know that people are criticizing me for that, but I tried to make Scarlett come with us," she told the Independent newspaper. "We had fights about it."

After her daughter's death, MacKeown read Keeling's diary and discovered that she had been having a sexual relationship with Lobo, the family spokesperson said.