Kin of 10 foreigners who died in Goa write to Modi for justice
PANAJI: Nine years after 16-yearold Scarlett Keeling’s death, her mother Fiona MacKeown and families of nine other foreigners who died mysteriously in Goa have written to PM Narendra Modi demanding justice.
In the letter sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the families have identified themselves as kin of tourists “murdered in Goa since 2005” and accused the police of cover-ups. “Police are resistant to solving these cases and those who are responsible for murder remain at liberty to reoffend…” the families have written.
“We fervently request a commission led by Supreme Court Judge to analyse the investigations of the deaths of Caitanya Holt, Felix Dahl, James Durkin, Kyle Arndt, Scarlett Keeling, Denyse Sweeney, Stephen Bennett, Martin Neighbour, Michael Harvey and Jonathan Burbank to ensure a proper, unbiased and comprehensive investigation to reveal the truth about their deaths. “The quality of the work of the police in Goa should be investigated. Instead of investigating the murders and killings, the local police want to cover up the truth,” states the letter.
Minna Pirhonen, mother of Felix Dahl who died in Goa in 2015, said, “We have written to PM Narendra Modi seeking an investigation about the way police in Goa has handled the probe of these deaths. Many cases have not been investigated at all, in others the investigation was done to show that nothing suspicious was found even in the case when the death itself was suspicious.”
According to an RTI reply accessed by a local activist in support of relatives of several of the deceased, 245 foreigners have died in Goa in the last 12 years.
Responding to reports , state tourism minister Manohar Azgaonkar issued a release stating, “We have set the agenda for tourism in Goa, with safety and security of tourists being the No 1 priority for the tourism department.”
POLICE ARE RESISTANT TO SOLVING CASES AND THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MURDER REMAIN AT LIBERTY TO REOFFEND, SAID THE FAMILIES