DAYS AFTER the Goa children’s court acquitted two men charged with sexually assaulting and leaving British teenager Scarlett Keeling to die on a Goa beach in February 2008, her mother Fiona Mackeown has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his intervention in reopening the investigation and prosecuting perpetrators of the crime. On September 23, Judge Vandana Tendulkar had acquitted Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho, stating that nothing incriminating had been found. Mackeown, 52, made her letter to Modi public at a media conference here Thursday, Recalling the Nirbhaya case, Mackeown wrote, “Having followed the Nirbhaya case, I believe the Indian criminal justice system has the minds and the ability to provide justice in months, rather than years.I pray for your attention to justice for me and my family.” Her counsel, Vikram Varma, said, “The PM must intervene and take adequate action on a fast-track basis. A special investigation team or an empowered agency must investigate the matter as a whole.” Senior public prosecutor Ejaz Khan said that they had received a copy of the court’s order on Wednesday and are yet to take a decision on whether to appeal in a higher court.
