A British man who says that he witnessed a sexual assault on a 15-year-old British girl on the same morning she was found dead in Goa has contacted British authorities to ask for their help and protection, The Times has learnt.

British officials have told him that they cannot intervene in the investigation into the death of Scarlett Keeling, whose half-naked body was found on Anjuna beach on February 18.

They have advised him to return to the southern Indian state to give a statement to the local police, who have been accused by the girl’s mother of covering up her rape and murder.

But the man, who fled Goa last month, fears that if he returns, his life will be in danger, and he will not be protected by the local police.

“He’s terrified,” a relative of the man told The Times. “He wants to come forward and help, but he does not trust the police.” Fiona MacKeown, Scarlett’s mother, appealed this week for the witness to come forward as she pressed local authorities to perform a second autopsy on her daughter’s body.

Her body was covered in bruises, her shorts and underwear had been removed and her bra-top pushed up around her neck.

The first autopsy concluded that she drowned, but Mrs MacKeown accused local police of covering up her daughter’s rape and murder after seeing the bruises and finding her underwear, shorts and sandals in the bushes near the beach.

The first autopsy also showed that Scarlett had no water in her lungs, although her windpipe did contain sand and salt water.

Goan authorities bowed to mounting political pressure yesterday by beginning the process of performing a second autopsy, which is now under the auspices of a local magistrate rather than the police.

Mrs MacKeown identified Scarlett’s body again yesterday morning in the presence of five witnesses, including the magistrate, and watched them count 50 bruises and abrasions on her body – as opposed to the five recorded in the first autopsy.

Doctors are now expected to perform a second post mortem examination of the body this morning, according Edmund Rodriguez, the lead pathologist on the case. If they find evidence of physical assault, then the police can open a murder case, according to Bosco George, the Superintendent of Police for North Goa.

Mrs MacKeown said that she was relieved that the Goan authorities had agreed to the second autopsy, but vowed to continue to fight for justice for her daughter. “I knew I was right all along.”

“I don’t know why, what their reasons are, but there’s been a cover-up by the police.”

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