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Ms MacKeown has alleged police and local government officials colluded with criminals involved with a local drug ring to cover up her daughter's rape and murder. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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PANAJI (India) - THE mother of a British teenager who was allegedly raped and murdered on a beach in southern India has been provided with an armed police escort and held at an undisclosed location, police said.
Scarlett Keeling's bruised and partially clothed body was found Feb 18 on Anjuna beach in Goa, a tiny state whose coastline is crowded with tourist resorts. A post-mortem examination last week showed she tested positive for cocaine and morphine.
Scarlett's mother Fiona MacKeown was provided armed security at an undisclosed location in the state Monday evening, senior police officer Bosco George said. He gave no other details.
Ms MacKeown's lawyer Vikram Verma told reporters her client faced considerable security risks and had asked for protection.
Ms MacKeown has alleged police and local government officials colluded with criminals involved with a local drug ring to cover up her daughter's rape and murder.
The case has been an embarrassment for Goa police, who initially said Scarlett drowned because she was drunk. Pressure from her family forced a second autopsy that indicated she may have been raped and murdered.
A senior police officer was suspended because of 'serious lapses' in the investigation into Scarlett's death, the state's top police official Kishen Kumar has said, without elaborating on the reason for the suspension.
Two men were arrested in connection with her death and police have said they were nearing the end of their investigation. The suspects were allegedly seen drinking at a bar with Scarlett the night she died.
Scarlett had been on vacation in India with her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and her six siblings. Her family was travelling elsewhere in India when she was killed. -- AP
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