The mum of murdered teenager Scarlett Keeling has condemned the authorities in India after the men she believes are guilty were cleared of raping and killing the teenager.

Fiona MacKeown slammed the judicial system and blamed the verdicts on police corruption as well as the failure of a key British witness to give evidence during the six-year trial.

Fifteen-year-old Scarlett’s bruised and half-naked body was found on a beach in Goa in 2008.

Local men Samson D’Souza, 37, and Placido Carvalho, 48, have been cleared of all charges.

Fiona described the long legal process as “exhausting and harrowing”.

The mum, who travelled to India for the court’s ruling, added: “I’ve waited eight years – and now this. I’m devastated and shocked.

“We thought justice would finally be done, but it hasn’t. It’s been eight years of agony. We had shown faith in the Indian judicial system but it has let me down.”

She could take the case to a higher court but believes corruption in Indian police agency the Central Bureau of Investigation means there may never be a conviction.

The distraught mum said she does not know if she has the strength to appeal.

Indian authorities have been accused of trying to cover up the killing to protect Goa’s lucrative tourism industry.

Scarlett’s death was initially treated as an accident but her mum pushed for a second postmortem – which uncovered 50 separate injuries.

Fiona, who is in her 50s, said: “Right from the beginning I knew that the local police did not want to prosecute the killers.

“It took a huge effort for me even to get the police to register a complaint.

“I had some hope for the CBI but it is clear that they are corrupt.

“If international tourists come to Goa and are murdered, they have no hope for justice.

"I don’t believe there has ever been justice for a murdered tourist in this country. The criminal justice system protects the criminals.

“I don’t have the financial resources or the strength to wait for another eight years for an appeal.”

She added: “Somebody murdered my daughter in this country and someone needs to be held accountable.”

Prosecutors claimed Mr D’Souza and Mr Carvalho plied Devon teenager ­Scarlett with drugs then carried out a sex attack and left her to drown on the beach at the resort of Anjuna.

The men were cleared by judge Vandana Tendulkar at Goa’s children’s court at the end of a trial that began in 2010.

(Mirror)