Desperate mum of murdered Brit teen Scarlett Keeling launches bid for £20,000 reward in ‘last chance’ to find killer

THE mother of murdered British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling has launched a crowdfunding campaign in her "last chance" to nail the killer.

Fiona Mackeown wants to raise a £20,000 reward as she fights to get justice for 15-year-old Scarlett, who was raped and left for dead on an Indian beach nine years ago.

The police probe into her death has been beset by a series of blunders since she was found half-naked on the tourist beach in Goa in February 2008.

Two men were accused of plying her with drugs and dumping her on the beach where she subsequently drowned.

But after a long-running court saga they were cleared of the charges in September after a key witness refused to testify.

Fiona, 53, started the this week appealing to the public to help fund the reward.

She and her lawyer Vikram Verma are hoping the reward would help encourage witnesses to come forward after the India's Central Bureau of Investigation decided to appeal the men's acquittal last month.

Fiona, of Bideford, Devon, wrote on the page: "I think this is my last chance to find witnesses that saw Scarlett on the night she died. There are too many gaps.

"I am not prepared to give up on Scarlett, she was a good girl who enjoyed and was looking forward to her life.

"If we succeed in getting justice for Scarlett we will be the first. This will open the gateway for others who I am in contact with who have also had loved ones murdered in Goa and been treated appallingly by the authorities.

"I just want the truth."

The teenager, who was holidaying with her mother and family, was found covered in 50 injuries on the popular Anjuna beach on February 18, 2008.

Barman Samson D'Souza, 36, and Placido Carvalho, 47, an alleged drug dealer, who had spent the evening drinking with the teenager, were arrested on suspicion of plying her with drugs, raping her and leaving her unconscious on the beach where she drowned.

After initial investigation by state police, the case was transferred to CBI, India's premier investigation agency.

Charges were filed against both man in March 2010.

But after years of investigation and court hearings, on September last year a children's court cleared both suspects.

Fiona said at the time she was “heartbroken and exhausted”, adding:  “I can’t think straight. I still haven’t got justice for my little girl.”

Fiona said this week: "The police and Government in Goa tried to cover up the murder saying it was a drowning accident and denying there was injuries to support my claim she was murdered.

"While on my way to the place she was found three days later I found Scarlett's underwear and sandals on the beach. One of the sandals were broken.

"I was then told by the boys in the shack near where she was found that she was raped and murdered.

Her lawyer Vikram Verma said: "This is our last chance to get justice and we are trying everything on our part to get it. We feel if witnesses come forward, we may get justice.

"Two persons had approached us when the body of Scarlett was found. A thin man in his forties had tried to speak with Fiona on the beach where her body was found but at that moment, she was in no sense to speak with anyone.

"Another person had stopped her to speak but she was too devastated and engaged with police that she could not speak with him. We had given their references to the police but they never tried to identify them.

"We had hoped they would try to approach us again but they disappeared in the last eight years. Now we are hoping that with the money as a reward, we can motivate these men to come forward and speak up."

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