Key witness in Brit girl murder arrives in Goa

Porvorim (Goa), Mar 17 : Michael Anthony Mannion, a key witness in the murder of 15-year-old British teenager Scarlet Eden Keeling, arrived in Goa on Monday to depose before the state police investigating the case.

Mannion who claims that he is the eyewitness in the Scarlett death case appeared at the office of Sub Divisional Police officer Bosco George and submitted a four-page memorandum.

Goa police had issued a look out notice for Manyon, who had fled the state three days after the incident, fearing for his life.

"I think it's important to be with Fiona today. Justice seems to be done. A 15 year old girl was raped and murdered, that's a terrible crime wherever it happened in the world. I have suffered for the last few days. We must not forget Fiona and her family have suffered the most. They have lost their only daughter and sister," said Michael Anthony Mannion, the key witness.

On being asked by a journalist whether he feared the police would implicate him in the murder case, Mannion replied, 'There is a fear of that yes.'

Fiona MacKeown, mother of the deceased Scarlet Eden Keeling who has accused authorities of trying to cover up the murder, was questioned after receiving a summons on Friday (March14) night. acKeown left her daughter in the care of friends in Goa while she went travelling in southern India.

The media and lawyers have criticised the police for failing in the past to properly investigate murder cases.

MacKeown has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention, as she feels the case has weakened, with the police sitting on vital medical tests for weeks to confirm the presence of drugs in Keeling's body.

The autopsy revealed bruises all over Keeling's body, that her mouth was stuffed with sand and she did not have enough saltwater in her lungs to indicate drowning.

ANI