Scarlett Keeling's Mother Hopeful for Justice Ahead of Court Judgement

Panaji: Goa children's Court will on Friday pronounce the final verdict in the rape and murder case of Scarlett Keeling, in which two local men, Samson D'Souza and Placido Carvalho, have been charged with drugging the teenager and leaving her to die on Anjuna coast.

Speaking to CNN News18, Scarlett's mother Fiona MacKeown who reached Goa earlier this week said, “At this stage I don't know which way the judgement would go. This trial is a test of the competence of the CBI. I am told they are the best investigating agency of India."

When asked about her life after the unfortunate murder of her daughter, she said, "It's not been brief, it's been a long eight years as I have been unsure of where I stood most of the time."

"Those who killed my daughter perhaps had the confidence that I would not be able to last the slow process of a trial. But my resolve to stand up and fight for my daughter's justice has not diluted,” she said.

The case was initially investigated by Goa Police and later handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "I have faith in the competence of CBI and I hope that

the accused would be proved guilty," Fiona said.

Vikram Varma, the advocate appointed by Fiona, said the verdict will be a test for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as they took over the case after the state police tried to cover up by terming it as a case of accidental death.

"Politicians at that time claimed that there is no narcotics business prevalent in Goa.", he said.

Slamming the politicians, Vikram said "Drugs were found hidden under the kitchen table of one of the accused."

"Politicians know the truth, but do not want to hamper the narcotics business in order to please the vote bank," Verma further added.

Scareltt's 52-year-old mother Fiona is likely to wind up her India trip on September 26 and for the last time she intends to visit the Anjuna coast, where Scarlett's corpse was found.

"I want to go there (Anjuna) and connect with my daughter. That may be my last trip to the coast whose dark memories still haunt me," Fiona said.

After 16-year-old Scarlett's body was found, Fiona had lived in Anjuna for a couple of weeks trying to piece together the evidence in the case.

"After the incident we stayed at Anjuna for couple of weeks but we were advised to move out from there considering the safety of our lives. The local goons were very active," she alleged.