Vanishing Tourist Organs
Organs removed from dead British girl: India police
Tue Apr 15, 8:22 AM
By Bappa Majumdar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Organs from the body of murdered British teenager Scarlett Keeling were removed for tests and will be destroyed soon, Indian police said on Tuesday, two days after her mother said someone had mysteriously taken them in Goa.
A fresh autopsy in Britain this month showed that Keeling's uterus, pancreas, both kidneys and spleen were missing, which her mother and Indian lawyer suggested could be foul play.
Police say a bartender raped and drugged Keeling and left her to die in shallow sea water on a deserted beach on February 18, and Goa police have arrested two people. But her mother accuses authorities of a cover-up.
Authorities in Goa said on Tuesday the organs were safe in a laboratory there and would be destroyed after medical tests.
"The organs were taken out for medical examination and there is no question of anything going wrong," J.P. Singh, Goa's chief secretary, told Reuters.
Police officer Bose Jorge said the organs would be destroyed after all the tests were completed. "There is no question of sending them back now," he said.
But the lawyer of Fiona MacKeown, mother of the dead teenager, criticized the police.
"Her mother was completely in the dark about the missing organs and would like the body to be complete when Keeling is eventually buried," said Vikram Varma.
MacKeown now wants to know why whole organs were removed and not parts taken for chemical analysis.
Experts in India said privately that the family's permission should have been sought.
"The police should have taken permission, which they normally don't and in many cases the examined parts are never put back into the body and they end up in laboratory jars for experiments," a top forensic science expert said, speaking on conditions of anonymity.
Keeling's case is also the latest to highlight the safety of tourists in India.
Tourism officials met this year to discuss attacks on tourists after some police officers said 10-12 deaths passed off as drowning since last year looked suspicious.
(Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
