Scarlett Keeling murder trial to begin on April 5

Panaji, Mar 19 (ANI): The Goa Children's Court has set April 5 as the next hearing date of the trial into the rape and murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling.

The trial of two men accused of killing British teenager Scarlett Keeling in Goa was adjourned on March 17 after it emerged that the chief prosecutor had been replaced.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Public Prosecutor S R Rivanker said the trail would begin from April 5, and ten out of the total 72 witnesses would be examined.

"Today the trial, the matter was fixed, for informing the court how prosecution wants to proceed with the trial. So, accordingly we have given our programme. We want to examine the witnesses, and first ten witnesses will be examined on the point of the recovery of the dead body that is fixed from April 5th," said Rivanker.

Rivanker added that efforts would be made to complete the trial by the end of 2010.

"We are proposing to complete the trial by the end of this year, so that some judgement may come out by the end of this year," he said.

28-year old Samson D'Souza and 36-year old Placido Carvalho, who were arrested, in this case are on bail at present.

The pair face charges including culpable homicide, sexual assault and destroying evidence.

It is the latest in a series of delays since Keeling's partly unclothed body was found on a beach at Anjuna in north Goa in February 2008.

The 15-year-old from Bideford in Devon had been on a six-month holiday in India with her mother, Fiona Mackeown, and other family members.

The initial police investigation concluded she drowned accidentally but a second postmortem revealed the teenager had been attacked and raped.

A report from the government's chief pathologist concluded she had been held underwater for five to 10 minutes. (ANI)