Review
Living in Hope
For Denyse, Bennett, Dahl and Keeling and Sanna Cutter who have all lost loved ones in gruesome circumstances in Goa, the delay in justice has been heartbreaking. Sanna who is fighting for justice for all foreigners who were killed here spoke to NESHWIN ALMEIDA about her battles
In March 2017, Maureen Sweeney sister of Denyse Sweeney, Fiona MacKeown mother of Scarlett Keeling, Amanda Bennett sister of Stephen Bennett, Sanna Pirhonen-Cutter aunt of Felix Dahl and Minna Pirhonen mother of Felix Dahl met in the UK. They are all family members who lost close ones in Goa and have till date not received justice.
A year later Sanna Cutter, who’s dedicated to fighting for justice for her nephew Felix Dahl, made a long-distance call to us from Finland to discuss her fight for justice for her beloved Felix. Felix in was found dead in Goa in 2015 off the road to Agonda under mysterious circumstances.
While Sanna along with Minna Pirhonen, the mother of Felix and her dear sister spend hours on the internet, reading of crimes in India, investigations, following up on crimes against foreign nationals and all kinds of court proceedings and rulings across India related to crime and murder.
After her meeting with the victim’s relatives, Sanna got a few relatives of foreign victims in Goa which include Parvati Dasi, mother of Caitanya Holt, Minna Pirhonen, mother of Felix Dahl, Jim Durkin, father of James Durkin, Lori Arndt, mother of Kyle Arndt, Fiona Mackeown, mother of Scarlett Keeling, Maureen Sweeney, , Amanda Bennett, sister of Stephen Bennett, Sara Neighbor, sister of Martin Neighbor, Pauline Harvey, mother of Michael Harvey, and Davis Burbank, father of Jonathan Burbank to write a joint petition asking for a commission to be appointed to inquire into these cases of murder.
Recalling these murders, they include, Denyse Sweeney who was discovered "in a distressed state" outside a bar in Goa in the early hours of 16 April 2010. A short time later, she was declared dead in hospital. Her family believes she was murdered. While 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling was found dead in Anjuna on February 19, about ten years ago, it was news that shocked the world about safety of tourist in Goa till date. Stephen Bennett, 40, began his holiday on Goa's golden beaches but ended it far from the tourist trail, in paddy fields and dense forests some 250 miles away. The part-time actor had been clubbed to death before being strung up with a sari, apparently to disguise the murder as suicide.
“It’s scary how till date there has never been a conviction for a murder of a foreign national in Goa when so many foreigners in Goa are found dead and most often these cases are botched up by police and closed as cases of accident or the victim is blamed for drug abuse,” explains Sanna.
Sanna feels that the entire Indian system of justice is so flawed and it’s so difficult and expensive to get lawyers to represent these cases of Felix and others at the Supreme Court or even High Court. Importantly Sanna says that Goa also doesn’t have any professional lawyer firm to manage this case from overseas.
She also makes us understand that on March 04, the police report will determine whether Felix’s case will be taken by the CBI but she feels that little can be done by the CBI which will take over the case after 3 years.
Sanna is also upset that her recent letter to the PMO also went without any heed or reply which means nobody in this country is serious to protect the lives of foreign nationals holidaying in India.
“ So many rapes and murders and hate crimes I read in India and my assumption is that a country that cant ensure safety of its guests and tourists and can’t give justice to us, will never do enough for its own nationals,” stated Sanna.
Sanna continues to speak that she can’t see her sister sad thinking of what happened to Felix and hence she says she has given up so much in her life to keep finding out about Felix and the possible legal options though right now she has only one lawyer in the entire nation fighting her case. But she feels her strengths in the last few years has been that of mobilizing together families of the foreign victims and its only about time before she can put real pressure on the government to appoint a Supreme Court headed probe in deaths of foreigners in Goa.
Sanna shares with us the pain she feels when she talks to each victim's family but she feels its time Goa resets its security for foreign nationals and ensure that atrocities against foreign tourist do not go unpunished.