Samson gets 10 yrs RI in Scarlett case

Team Herald

PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Friday sentenced Samson D’Souza to 10 years rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of drugging, sexually abusing and leaving British teenager Scarlett Keeling Eden to die at Anjuna beach in February 2008. 

The Division Bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and Prithviraj Chavan held him guilty on various counts of the Indian Penal Code and Goa Children’s Act. The bench had pronounced him guilty on July 17,

 overturning the acquittal by the Children’s Court but had reserved its verdict on quantum of the sentence to Friday. The court, however, upheld the acquittal of second accused Placido Carvalho.

When the matter came up for hearing on Friday morning, the bench ordered that D’Souza be taken into judicial custody immediately while stating that his jail term will be pronounced at 3pm. 

D’Souza was present in the court hall at the time of the verdict. At this stage, D’Souza counsel moved an application for suspending the sentence and releasing him for 12 weeks in order to file an appeal before the Supreme Court. This was strongly objected by Special Public Prosecutor (Central Bureau of Investigation) Ejaz Khan contending that neither the process of the court was abused nor there is any question of securing ends of justice. The bench rejected D’Souza’s plea while directing the judgment to be certified to the Children’s Court President who shall proceed further by issuing a committal warrant to the jailor of Colvale Jail for serving out sentence awarded to the convict.

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