CBI paves way for trial of two for Scarlett murder

CBIPanaji, Oct 21 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an additional charge sheet in the case of murder of 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling, at Anjuna beach in Goa in February last year.

With the filing of the additional charge sheet at the Goa Children's Court (GCC), the main accused in Scarlett Keeling's murder - Samson D'Souza, 30, and Placido Carvalho, 42 - will finally be tried in the court of the GCC president in Panaji.

The charge sheet follows investigations by CBI officials after the top investigating agency was handed over the case from the Goa police.

The Goa police had been accused of sabotaging the investigations in the teenager's murder, which received attention from across the world.

The CBI has already interviewed more than 200 witnesses in its investigations and has consulted various agencies like the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), telecommunication and forensic experts, etc.

Samson and Placido have been charged under sections 304 (ii), 328, 354, 201, 109 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 8 (i) (ii) of the Goa Children's Act.

The two have already been charged with murder under section 302 IPC in the original chargesheet.

The fresh charges slapped against them include sections which deal with administering drugs with the intention of causing hurt and use of criminal force with an intention of outraging modesty.

Scarlett's body was found on the Anjuna beach in north Goa in February last year. The brutal murder exposed the seedy underbelly of tourism in the coastal belt of Goa. (IANS)