Warning over Indian film about British teen death

PANAJI: The Indian lawyer for a British woman whose daughter was found dead in the resort state of Goa has warned that filmmakers could face legal action for making a movie about the case.

Vikram Varma said that a low-budget Indian production company making "Anjuna Beach" had not consulted either him or the mother of the victim, Scarlett Keeling, before shooting started.

"If there is any distortion of facts then we will take legal action," he added.

The film, which was shot on location in the north Goa resort where 15-year-old Keeling's partially-clothed body was found in February 2008, stars a Ukrainian actress in the lead role.

Keeling was found to have taken a cocktail of drink and drugs before she died. Her mother, Fiona Mackeown, criticised local police in the immediate aftermath for not investigating the case as murder.

She said they were trying to protect drug gangs who prey on tourists.

Mackeown said from her home in southwest England that she would like to see the film before it is released.

Varma said that the filmmakers also ran the risk of being in contempt of court if they released it during the trial, particularly as it was being presented as "the real story" of how Keeling died.

Two local men are currently on trial in the former Portuguese colony charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, using force with intent to outrage a woman's modesty and administering a drug with intent to harm.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011