Goan police protect girl's mother

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7312802.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Four armed Indian police are protecting the mother of murdered British teenager Scarlett Keeling amid fears for her safety, her lawyer said.

Fiona MacKeown, 43, feared her outspoken comments about alleged links between Goan officials and local drug dealers could provoke retaliation.

Lawyer Vikram Varma said: "She applied to the police for protection because her life was in danger."

Her daughter was found raped and murdered on Anjuna beach last month.

Police initially said she had accidentally drowned on 19 February, but opened a murder investigation after pressure from Ms MacKeown and a post-mortem which revealed bruising on the 15-year-old's body.

Ms MacKeown, on an extended holiday from near Bideford, Devon, with her children when the murder happened, said she had been unable to move around the local area as she feared she would be attacked.

Scarlett Keeling died in February

"It is quite likely that if someone thinks they are above the law enough to kill my daughter... then they would think they are above the law enough to kill me as well," she said.

Mr Varma said the police made an assessment of the threat to Ms MacKeown and posted four armed police outside the house she was staying at.

"If she disclosed her whereabouts the threat to her life would increase rapidly," Mr Varma said.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the rape and murder.

Mr Varma also said the Goan parliament was considering holding an inquiry into the conduct of the police by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Ms MacKeown said that she would be ready to return home as soon as the CBI was appointed to probe her daughter's death.

Her other children have been sent back to the UK for their own safety, she has said.