'Scarlett body had froth at mouth'

The fresh disclosure was made by constable Gurunath Naik, 29, formerly attached to the Anjuna police station, who was the first prosecution witness to be examined before GCC president B P Deshpande.

“I found that her eyes and mouth were partly open. I noticed orange coloured chappals at a distance of around 2 to 3 metres from the body. I observed that froth was coming from the mouth,” Naik told the court.

Recalling the series of events which led to the discovery of Scarlett’s half-naked body at Anjuna beach, Naik said he had rushed to the spot after an unknown person telephoned the police station that a dead body was lying on the beach.

The defence counsel has described the series of events which Naik narrated to the GCC as part of the trial, as contradictory to his  earlier statements to investigating agencies.

Counsel for Samson D’Souza, 30, advocate Ryan Menezes during his cross-examination pointed out to several contradictions in statements of Naik to investigative agencies earlier and his deposition to the GCC Monday. While Naik in his deposition on Monday said Scarlett’s body was found with froth lining her mouth, Menezes pointed out that Naik had not stated this observation in any of his earlier three statements recorded by investigating agencies.

Menezes said while Naik in his statement on Monday said the teenager’s body was picked up from the sand and placed a few metres away to prevent the waves from dragging it back into the sea, in his earlier statement on Feb 2, 2008, he had said the body was in fact on a stretcher.

S Rivonkar, lawyer for CBI which filed the charge sheet in the case, said after the hearing that the contradictions were minor and will have no bearing on the final outcome. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Two beach shack workers Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho, were charged by the CBI in connection with Scarlett’s death.

Witnesses being examined

Michael Mannion, 35, a London-based carpenter and Murali Sagar who worked in a rival shack in Anjuna are the key witnesses the CBI is expected to produce in the trial against the two men charged with culpable homicide in the Scarlett Keeling case, reports DHNS from Panaji.

“They are our key witnesses and we are confident they will testify in the case,” CBI special counsel S Rivonkar told Deccan Herald. Mannion and Murali are among the over 60 witnesses listed by the CBI who will be examined in the case against Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho. D’Souza, who worked as a bartender in Lui’s Shack, Anjuna, has been charged with culpable homicide, sexual assault and destroying evidence. Carvalho, an alleged drug dealer has been named an abettor in the case. Both D’Souza and Carvalho were present in the court on Monday.

Scarlett’s mother Fiona MacKeown is expected to testify in court next week.