Denyse Sweeney: India inquiry says death 'not murder'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-37484933

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The family of a British woman who died in India said investigators "ignored evidence" when ruling out murder.

Police in Goa originally concluded Denyse Sweeney, 34, from Derby, overdosed on drugs when she collapsed outside a bar in 2010.

A UK inquest ruled out drugs and India's Central Bureau of Investigation has now said she died from fluid on the brain, with no evidence of violence.

Her sister said she is furious and there is clear evidence of murder.

Denyse was on her second visit to the area when a friend found her near the toilets of the bar in a distressed state.

She was talking incoherently and then collapsed.

Another man, apparently local, was also seen at the time but has never come forward.

Once the UK inquest in 2012 disproved the drug theory and showed she had died from an injury to her head, her family pushed for another investigation.

In January 2016, the CBI began its own inquiry but has now filed a report to close the case.

Nandkumar Nair, the head of CBI's special branch in Mumbai, told reporters the cause of death was cerebral pulmonary oedema, an accumulation of fluid in brain and lungs.

He said there was no evidence of assault or homicide, no eyewitness or circumstantial evidence of any attack and medical opinion pointed to an accident.

'Conflicting stories'

But Ms Sweeney's sister Maureen said: "I know she was murdered she was hit over the head with a rock or a boulder. We knew this from day one. We were told by tourists, by her friends... we've had various reports from the police. Yes it did happen, no it didn't happen. We are just getting conflicting stories all over the place."

She added: "I'm furious because they've clearly ignored information, evidence...for them to say that there's no evidence and actually they're still saying she's died because she was drunk.

"We've proven time and time again she had no drugs in her system and alcohol was included [in that]."

The news four comes days after Goa Children's Court in Panaji cleared two men of charges around the death of British teenager Scarlett Keeling in Goa in February 2008.