Keeling’s mother still wants to settle in Goa

Keeling’s mother still wants to settle in Goa
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: The tragic story of a daughter’s death has a surprisingly redeeming end. The mother, Fiona MacKeown, 43, 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 Scarlette’s body back to Devon in the UK.
Teenager Scarlette 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 MacKeown 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 Scarlette, 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 home in Devon, she is a little more relaxed and that much more determined to ensure that the criminals are punished. How has she coped in the last few weeks? She stares down at her hands, lost in thought for a while. Finally, she says, “It has been a difficult time for us.’’ The fear is apparent on her face. “I was naive and guilty of trusting people who played saviour to my daughter, which proved fatal.’’ She continues after a pause, “I don’t feel safe with the police. What if I end up again dealing with the bad police?’’
Unhappy that the police are doing an ossification test on her daughter, she has sent one more letter to IGP Kishen Kumar: “I don’t wish for any further tests to be done on her.’’

2008 Mar 12 Times of India Mumbai