Fiona wants to settle in Goa

Fiona wants to settle in Goa
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panjim: The tragic story of a daughter’s death has a surprisingly redeeming end. The mother, Fiona MacKeown, wants to come back to Goa and settle here. Why? ‘‘The locals, except for few, are very nice and helpful people. They helped me and gave me emotional support when I needed it the most. If the police weren’t corrupt here, then this would have been paradise on earth.’’
There is a thick bundle of papers in Fiona’s tired hand. One can spy a sheet of paper with the latest request from the aggrieved mother to the Goa police. This time it is for a no-objection certificate to take her teenage daughter Scarlett’s body back to Devon in the UK.
Teenager Scarlett Keeling’s body was found under mysterious circumstances at Anjuna beach on February 18. On that day, Fiona was away at Gokarna in Karnataka. She reached Goa late in the night and was told by the police that her daughter had died of drowning. Convinced of foul play, she demanded justice.
From that day on, Fiona has been on the run. She is disillusioned, but not beaten. Her determination has driven her to fight despite the fear of retaliation and cautionary advice from those around. ‘‘I want justice for Scarlett, but I was also scared for my other children’s safety. So we shifted from one friend’s house to another every three days,’’ she said. Now that her children are safe in Devon home, she is relaxed and determined to ensure that the criminals are punished.

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