The Goa police claimed that the Scarlette murder case has been cracked with the arrest of Samson D'Souza and Placido Carvalho.
The state's Inspector General of Police Kishen Kumar however said that this is just the beginning and that more investigations will reveal the whole truth.
This is what the IGP says transpired: Scarlette walked into Luis cafe on Anjuna beach at 3 am on February 18 all by herself. She was intoxicated and fell on the steps of the cafe. She managed to get up and walk to the counter. Here she met D'Souza, whose intentions were not good, according to the IGP. In fact, several persons in the cafe told him to lay off the girl. But he took her near the parking lot along with Carvalho and gave the girl drugs such as LSD, Ecstasy and cocaine.
The girl was in no position to stand after this. After this, D'Souza assaulted her sexually. Several persons saw this but did not do anything as they felt that the girl was a consenting party. The IGP says that in fact she was so drugged that she lay almost unconscious without saying a word. D'Souza then took her near the beach and sexually assaulted her again. She fell unconscious again. She could have died of overdose as she was given a lot of drugs. The wounds on her body were due the fact that she was repeatedly assaulted. D'Souza fled the beach at around 6 am.
On the role played by Placido, Kumar said he was present with Samson and Scarlette when they were consuming drugs. He was aware of what was happening and hence is equally responsible. But he is not accused of murder. He has been booked under Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code which states that he had a common intent, according to Kumar.
The IGP also said that they have ten witnesses, who corroborate this version of events. He said the police are awaiting the testimony by British national Micheal Mannion aka Masala who had given a statement to the foreign media regarding what he saw on that fateful night. Kumar also said that the statements by the witnesses and the accused are similar. He said that Samson had admitted to sexually assaulting Scarlette.
The IGP also said that a case of murder has been made out at the moment but more investigations are required. They are looking into the drug angle and also awaiting results of the tests on the Scarlette's viscera which has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Mumbai.
The IGP also ruled out political pressure and maintained that the investigations are independent and fair.
More from rediff