Scarlett’s diary crucial pages missing: Defence lawyer

PANAJI - Crucial pages from slain British teenager Scarlett Keeling’s diary are missing, lawyer for one of those accused of sexually assaulting the 15-year-old and leaving her to die told the trial court here Friday.

The Goa Children’s Court (GCC) has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its reply to the defence lawyer’s contention by Sep 3.

Jos Peter D’souza, a lawyer for Placido Carvalho, also told the court that the information contained in the missing pages was crucial to the trial and needed to be traced as soon as possible.

Scarlett was found dead at Anjuna beach in north Goa, which is immensely popular with foreigners, in February 2008.

In course of the investigation, the girl’s personal diary was discovered by the police which contained explicit details of her life, including several frank notes about her frustrations, likes, dislikes, drug, alcohol usage and her sex life.

The police had claimed they found the diary from her boyfriend Juilio Lobo’s room.

Two beach shack workers, Samson D’Souza, 28, and Placido Carvalho, 36 — who were allegedly seen drinking at a bar with Keeling the night she died — were later arrested and face charges of culpable homicide, sexual assault and destroying evidence.

The death of Scarlett Keeling and her mother’s subsequent campaign for justice received international attention and exposed the nexus of beach-oriented backpack tourism and the narcotics lobby active in the state.