' I was tortured by police to confess I killed Scarlett' says chief suspect in Goa murder

The man accused of raping and murdering British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling on a beach in Goa has admitted leaving her there semi-conscious – but insisted he was not responsible for her death.

Samson D’Souza, 29, was dramatically freed last week when a judge ruled there was no evidence linking him to the crime in February.

He had spent seven months in custody after the 15-year-old was found dead in the resort of Anjuna following her mother Fiona MacKeown’s decision to continue a six-month holiday by travelling in the region without her.

Speaking for the first time since being released on bail, Mr D’Souza admitted leaving Scarlett in a comatose state on the beach where she was found dead just hours later.

But he said: ‘All I am guilty of is being the last person as far as I am aware to leave her behind at the beach. Scarlett was very drunk on the night she died. She was falling all over the place and could not stand.

‘The safest option was to leave her on the beach. It is not a crime to do what I did.’

Mr D’Souza’s release on Thursday, which effectively leaves the investigation back at square one, is the latest twist in the horrific story of Scarlett’s death and the sorry circumstances leading to it.

When her body was found battered and semi-naked, police initially claimed she had drowned accidentally after taking drugs.

A toxicology report revealed she had consumed a cocktail of drugs, including cocaine, and alcohol.

In the aftermath, Mrs MacKeown, 43, accused the Indian authorities of a cover-up, while her critics questioned her judgment in leaving behind her daughter with an older boyfriend, 25-year-old Julio Lobo, in an atmosphere rife with drink, drugs and sex.

A second post-mortem examination revealed the teenager had in fact been raped, had 50 abrasions on her body and was killed when her head was forcibly held under water for between five to ten minutes.

Mr D’Souza, an Indian who worked at Lui’s bar where Scarlett was drinking on the night she died, was the second person arrested in connection with her death.

The first, Placido Carvalho, was charged with supplying her with cocaine, ecstasy and LSD and was released on bail in April. Mr D’Souza was charged with rape and murder.

Several key witnesses reported seeing the barman lying on top of Scarlett outside the bar shortly before her body was found. But this week, Goa’s Children’s Court ruled there was no forensic evidence linking him to Scarlett, of Bideford, Devon.

‘Other than the accused last being seen with Scarlett prior to her death, there is no other material bringing out his role in her rape or death,’ the court order said.

Now, Mr D’Souza claims he was tortured into a confession by police desperate to find a scapegoat.

Scarlett’s mother has accused him of ‘messing around with her’ and of knowing who her killers were, but said: ‘I don’t think he raped and murdered her.’

The barman says Scarlett was a tragedy waiting to happen due to what he claims was her mother’s negligent attitude to her upbringing. He claims Mrs MacKeown was fully aware that Scarlett was drinking heavily and taking drugs throughout their family holiday in Goa.

Speaking from the home he shares with his French wife Bridget and their 16-month-old-daughter Lya just outside Anjuna, Mr D’Souza said: ‘It was a well known fact around Anjuna that Scarlett was always drinking.

‘She used to go from bar to bar racking up credit bills and even used to go up to people and steal their drinks. She was very like most Britishers – when she started drinking she could not stop.

‘She boasted she had been drinking for three days without sleeping. What mother leaves their 15-year-old girl on their own in Goa to get drunk and end up in such trouble?’

On the night Scarlett died, Mr D’Souza was working at Lui’s bar. He said: ‘Scarlett was drinking in the bar and by the end of the evening she could not walk. I tried to call her a taxi to take her home but she insisted on being left on the beach. I’m afraid that’s what I did. It was only the next morning that I heard she was dead.’

Mr D’Souza added: ‘In hindsight, knowing that she died, it is sad, but I did the most responsible thing that I could at the time.’

He said he believed she drowned while trying to swim when drunk and under the influence of drugs, adding: ‘I cannot say any more than that because I was at home when she died.’

Mr D’Souza said he only confessed to her murder because police tortured him. He added: ‘They held me without charge from February 21 until my first court appearance
in March.

‘To get the confession out of me they initially beat me with their fists. Then they used plastic rods to beat my feet. When that didn’t work they used electric shock diodes on my head and body until I said I would confess to anything they wanted. But I am totally innocent.’

The case was handed to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation in June after local police were criticised for the way they handled it.

Mr D’Souza said he hopes to settle in France once he is formally cleared. He added: ‘We are going to start all over again. My life here is ruined. I cannot stay.’

Fiona MacKeown’s spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: ‘Samson D’Souza has been bailed but he is still facing a most serious charge.’