Fears British teen was murdered in India

The mother of a 15-year-old who died in India believes her daughter was raped and murdered.

Fiona MacKeown took her daughter Scarlett Keeling, her partner and six other children, from her home in Bideford, Devon, for a dream trip to India in November.

But after an argument with Scarlett, she left her in the charge of a local tour guide while the rest of the family visited other areas.

Scarlett was last seen alive in Lui's beachside cafe at the resort of Anjuna, Goa, at about 4am on February 18.

Indian police initially said that the teenager accidentally drowned - but a post-mortem examination showed that Scarlett suffered at least five after-death abrasions on her face, back and shins and she had sand in her mouth and trachea.

It also found that she had hardly enough water in her body to have drowned.

The pathologist also confirmed that the schoolgirl had recently had sexual intercourse although it was not clear whether it was by force.

Several days after Scarlett's death, Ms MacKeown found her daughter's underpants, shorts and sandals, one of which had a broken strap.

Ms MacKeown said that she had hired an Indian lawyer to seek "justice" for her daughter.

"Scarlett's death was no accident," Ms MacKeown said.

"She was a very good swimmer - she grew up bodyboarding near where we live.

"Some people believe Scarlett was drunk on her last night, but I know my daughter, she wasn't a drinker. She just didn't like drinking."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Local police are investigating but we are not speculating while the investigation is going on."

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