Goa barman arrested in Scarlett Keeling case

A barman has been arrested in Goa in connection with the death of the British teenager Scarlett Keeling, whose naked body was discovered on a beach three weeks ago. Two other men are also being questioned.

Police said Samson da Souza, who works at the beach shack bar where Scarlett, 15, was last seen alive, had been formally detained after an unidentified witness came forward to claim he had seen the 28-year-old raping the girl.

It was previously reported that a British tourist had witnessed the attack but had then disappeared, fearing for his own safety. The suspect "was seen with the girl near to where her dead body was found," Inspector Kishan Kumar said. "It was evidently clear this man was raping her. We have sufficient evidence to show this man was having sex with the girl in the early hours of 18 February. We have established that he was raping her."

The developments came hours after doctors who performed a second post-mortem on the teenager's body urged police to treat Scarlett's death as "homidical in nature".

It also found there were almost 50 bruises on her body when the first autospy suggested there werefive. The police had previously claimed Scarlett drowned, but her mother, Fiona MacKeown, insisted otherwise and fought to have the case re-examined.

When reporters visited Mr da Souza's house last week, he reportedly refused to come to the door. It is believed that the other men being questioned are Luis Coutinho, owner of the bar where Mr da Souza worked, and Julio Lobo, 25, a tour guide with whom Scarlett was allegedly having a sexual relationship.

Scarlett, from Bideford, Devon, travelled to India last November with her mother and siblings.