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Police investigation into Scarlette’s case misleading, says NCW

Panaji: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has held that the police investigations into the rape and murder of British teenager Scarlette Eden Keeling in Goa were “completely misleading.”

In a preliminary report, Commission member Nirmala Venkatesh said: “The police are trying to hide the facts of the case and close it. We will never allow this to happen.” She claimed that Scarlette was injected with morphine.

“Scarlette was raped by four to five persons by gagging her mouth. There are nail marks on the body and several marks, which indicate that more than one person was involved in the sexual assault,” the NCW member said.

“The police investigation in this case was completely misleading and evidence was destroyed by the police themselves,” she said.

The NCW would continue to fight for justice and brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the attitude of the police in the case.

The preliminary report was based on her interaction with the agencies concerned and they would come out with the final report later, she said.

“We have seen the post-mortem and viscera reports. Our findings are based on the evidence found in those reports,” the Commission member said.

Ms. Mackeown said on Sunday that she would seek the help of the Scotland Yard in probing the death of her daughter.

“I will be asking for Scotland Yard help in probing the case,” she said on the eve of her departure to London to bury the mortal remains of Scarlette. — PTI

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