The Joker--Why So Serious?

The Joker is a fictional character and super villain that appears in the comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, with contributions by artist Jerry Robinson, the Joker is the archenemy of the superhero Batman and first appeared in Batman #1 (Spring 1940). The Joker is a master criminal with a clown-like appearance, including bleached white skin, red lips, and green hair. Initially portrayed as a violent sociopath who murders people and commits crimes for his own amusement, the Joker, later in the 1940s, began to be written as a goofy trickster-thief. That characterization continued through the late 1950s and 1960s before the character became again depicted as a vicious killer.

He has been responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle) and the murders of Jason Todd (the second Robin) and Jim Gordon's second wife Sarah Essen.

In 2006, Wizard magazine rated Joker as the greatest villain of all time.

The Joker has been portrayed by various actors in other media. He was portrayed by Cesar Romero in the 1960s Batman television series; Jack Nicholson in the 1989 film Batman (Nicholson's version of the Joker ranks #45 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 50 film villains); and voice actor Mark Hamill in TV's Batman: The Animated Series.

The late Heath Ledger portrays the character for director Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight.

In memory of Scarlett...

oh can't you see cruel world
the source of her hurt
the fuel to her flames
suffering, her suffering
explicit words, brutal advances
nasty stares, pornographic proposals
how her flesh has suffered
how time has left her scarred
and the ways of men nulled her soul
tears of joy escape her
memory holds no consolations
tears of shame, hurt and pain are all she knows
frozen at the curtains of her sight
she pleads for death..
a dramatic conclusion, an end, no more

Goa--The saga ensues

The saga around Scarlett Keeling's rape and murder continues with reports of a possible CBI inquiry into the entire affair. This at the behest of Fiona Mckeown, Scarlett's mother. She has repeatedly voiced her distrust over the investigation conducted by the Goan police. Let us hope that this brings to light the truth behind the tragic death of the teenager.


Meanwhile, the Goan chief minister has briefed the Indian prime minister over the entire matter. The former is after all under immense pressure to ensure that justice be served; as the entire world is indeed watching.

Goa--Homicidal Drowning

Scarlett Keeling, the British teenager found dead in Goa, was murdered by having her head held under the sea for up to 10 minutes, her mother’s lawyer has claimed.

Vikram Varma, who is acting for Fiona MacKeown, Scarlett's mother, cited a new postmortem report from Goa’s chief pathologist, which also revealed that the alcohol and drugs in her body were not sufficient to kill her.

The new report, prepared in Goa’s state capital Panjim by forensic scientist Dr Silvano Sapeco, is partly based on the results of a stomach analysis.

It said: “The findings in this case are consistent with exact (text book) picture for homicidal drowning in shallow water.”

The report also said cuts and bruises on the body showed she had fought against her killers.

The new claims directly contradict the police account of the events leading up to the death of Scarlett, 15.

Goa police initially tried to convince Ms MacKeown that her daughter’s death last month was due to accidental drowning.

After a vigorous campaign by Ms MacKeown, a second autopsy was ordered which confirmed her belief that Scarlett had been raped and murdered.

“The reports show that Scarlett fought back,” said Mr Varma. “It is also clear that her head was held under shallow water for five to 10 minutes.

"This is consistent with a forensic description of homicidal drowning. This shows that we have been lied to all along.”

Ms MacKeown said she had been "proved right" by the latest findings and accused the Goan police of a "cover-up".

"This is something I’ve been saying from the beginning," she said.

"I’ve said there’s been a cover-up from the start. I haven’t been contacted by the police once. I want the police brought to justice."

She reiterated her calls for a full independent investigation by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (ICBI) into the way the case has been handled.

Goa--Key witness steps up

Michael Mannion, also known as Mike Masala, claimed that on the night Scarlett died he saw his friend Samson D’Souza with the teenager outside the beach bar where they had all spent the evening.

He also claims he had earlier warned Mr D’Souza to stay away from her as she was clearly a minor.

In a statement given to the murdered girl’s mother Fiona MacKeown and her lawyer, Mr Mannion, who had been staying with Mr D’Souza and his French wife Cecile, says Scarlett arrived at Lui’s bar on Anjuna beach at about 3am and was already inebriated and fell over on the steps outside.

He said she came over to talk to him and told him she was 15 years old and had no money for a taxi home.

Mr Mannion saw her leave the bar at about 5am with a man named Murli who he believed was giving her a lift home.

Five minutes later Mr Mannion noticed Mr D’Souza too had left.

When Mr Mannion went outside he allegedly saw Mr Murli driving away and Mr D’Souza with Scarlett.

The girl’s body was found by locals near to Lui’s bar at about 6.30am.

According to Mr Mannion, he left immediately because he was afraid to intervene.

“I was in a complete state of panic, shock. I got on my bike and rode off,” he said.

During the alleged assault, according to police, Miss Keeling began to lose consciousness. They suspect Mr D’Souza then tried to revive her by splashing water on her face.

When he saw a man with a torch approaching, he panicked and left her to die.

Asked for his reaction when he heard a young girl had been found dead, Mr Mannion said “Initially I said nothing, I did nothing. Then two of the people working in the shack were called in for questioning. I was told then by another local to stay away and not to say anything.”

Mr Mannion said he left Anjuna on the 23 February and had been travelling around India, scared for his life. Last week Indian authorities put its ports and airports on alert to stop Mr Mannion from leaving the country, saying he was crucial to their investigation, and gave assurances of his safety.

When Mr Mannion heard the police were anxious to talk to him, he approached the British High Commission in Mumbai but was told it could not interfere in Indian judicial proceedings.

He said he had now come forward after the police promised he would be safe.

“It is important for me to be here,” he said. “A 15 year old girl has been raped and murdered. Justice needs to be done.”

Goa--The Scarlett Diaries

A tabloid in London has reported excerpts from Scarlett Keeling's Diary. Its reveals that Scarlett was living a hedonistic life of sex, drugs and alcohol in the days prior to her death.

In her final entry before leaving england in November she described a farewell party where she "got drunk stoned and was trippin' on mushies (hallucinogenic mushrooms)".

The entries, mostly undated, are written in a schoolbook. In her penultimate entry she wrote: "I want to go home".


She signed some of them with her nickname, Skaz. There are pages of childish drawings--a heart, two saxophones and unhappy cartoon faces, one of which has tears gushing from its eyes. The final page shows a stick figure hanging from the gallows. Underneath was the name, address and telephone number of Julio Lobo, her boyfriend.

According to her diary, Scarlett met Julio at a "full moon party" which would put their first meeting and first sexual encounter as early as November 24, just days after her arrival in India. Goa police have now hinted at arresting Julio Lobo, 21, under the Goa Children's Act.

Investigations so far have revealed that he played no role in her rape and murder. However, he could be booked for statutory rape as the IPC and the Goa Act considers consensual sex with a minor "rape".

Goa--Paradise Lost III

Police in India have arrested and charged a man with the rape and murder of Scarlett Keeling, who was found dead on a beach in Goa. Placido Carvalho, who was arrested last night, is said to have been one of the men seen with the 15-year-old the night before she died.

He appeared in court in Mapusa today on charges of raping and murdering the Devon teenager, according to senior police official Bosco George.


In a statement, Mr Carvalho claimed he had seen Scarlett arriving at Lui's bar at about 3.30am on Feb 18 - the night she was killed - in a state of "total inebriation".At about 4.40am he says he saw her leave with a man named Murli and that they were followed five minutes later by Samson D'Souza.

Mr D'Souza, 28, was arrested earlier this week and detained on suspicion of the statutory rape of Scarlett.


A third suspect, who has not yet been identified, was apparently arrested earlier today according to Vikram Varma, a lawyer who is acting for Scarlett's mother Fiona MacKeown. But there has been no official confirmation of this.


Miss MacKeown has been critical of the police investigation which last night saw a senior police officer suspended for "serious lapses" in the case.

She has written to the Indian prime minister claiming that police attempted to cover up the crime as an accidental drowning.

Goan police only started to treat Scarlett's death as murder after a second post mortem, carried out following pressure from Miss MacKeown, showed her daughter was covered in bruises.


Detectives are also hoping to question Scarlett's boyfriend, Julio Lobo, a 25-year-old Goan tour guide with whom the teenager had been staying.

According to Mr Carvalho's statement, Michael Manyon, a British tourist also known as Masala Mike, was also present in the hours leading up to Scarlett's death.

Police issued a ports and airports alert for Mr Manyon yesterday.


Scarlett's mother and siblings were touring a neighbouring state when the teenager's half-naked body was found in the resort of Anjuna.

The 43-year-old, a mother of nine, from Bideford, Devon, said the police were not giving her any information.

Meanwhile Kishan Kumar, a senior police officer, has said Miss MacKeown could still be investigated for negligence because she left her daughter at the resort.

Goa--Paradise Lost II

The mother of Scarlett keeling has urged a Briton who fled the Indian state to get in touch.

Fiona MacKeown believes that the man witnessed the rape of her daughter, Scarlett Keeling, 15.

He had apparently confided in another foreign resident of Goa, who then contacted her, but the man had since left in fear of his own life. “We urge him to come forward because this information could be vital to this case,” she said.

Her appeal came as the authorities in Goa agreed to allow a second post-mortem examination of Scarlett's body and to decide whether to open a criminal case within the next few days. Police also revealed that they had questioned an employee of a beach-front bar who they said was seen leaving the bar with Scarlett at about 4am on February 18, the last time she was seen alive.

The case has thrown a fresh spotlight on the issue of foreign women's safety in India after a series of sexual assaults on tourists, including several Britons, in the past three months. It also highlights the darker side of Goa, where palm-fringed beaches, a laid-back atmosphere and plentiful drugs have made it a favourite destination for young backpackers.

Scarlett had been staying with Julio, a 25-year-old local tour guide, while the rest of her family travelled in the state of Karnataka. The guide said he last saw Scarlett at 8.30pm on February 18 when he drove her to a restaurant to meet a Spanish friend called Ruby. Witnesses say that Scarlett and Ruby went out and returned drunk to the restaurant at 1am. Scarlett then left alone, they say.

Police said that Scarlett was seen arriving at Lui's, one of about two dozen beach “shacks” that line Anjuna beach, at about 4am, and leaving with one of the barmen soon afterwards. Locals found her half-naked body at about 6.30am close to the bar. Her shorts and underpants had been removed and her bra-top pushed up around her neck.

Police sources declined to say if either Lui, the owner, or Samson Da Souza, another employee, was the man seen leaving with Scarlett.

Goa--Paradise Lost

Authorities in India are investigating whether a British girl, Scarlet Keeling could have been raped and killed in Goa last month(February) after the victim's parents demanded a more thorough look at the case.

Two weeks ago in February, police found the body of Scarlet Keeling, a 15-year-old British tourist, with bruises all over her body on a deserted Goa beach. Police initially said she had possibly drowned.

It is the latest case to highlight the safety of tourists in India. Tourism officials met this year to discuss attacks on tourists after at least seven foreign women and girls said they had been raped or molested.

Keeling's parents said Scarlet was raped and murdered and demanded immediate action, police said.


"We have recorded her death as an unnatural one and now trying to find out whether she was indeed raped and murdered," Bosco Jorge, a senior police officer probing the case, said from Goa.


An autopsy report has revealed her mouth was stuffed with sand and she did not have enough salt water in her lungs to suggest drowning, but police said it was too early to come to conclusions.


On Sunday, authorities in Goa said they had asked the police to look deeper into the case after Keeling's parents demanded a second autopsy.
"We are looking into this case very seriously," said J.P. Singh, the chief secretary of Goa state.

Tourist industry officials remain worried.

"If we can't protect our tourists, the word will spread and people will be scared to come to India," Sunil Kohli, chairman of the Travel Agents Federation of India said in New Delhi.

Engineering Terror

Feb 21 2007, India: The Bangalore police arrest a suspected terrorist Mohammad Yahya Kammakutty, an electrical engineer in Bangalore, belonging to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). He was suspected of being connected to the attacks on the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISC) , Bangalore. His three companions, however, managed to escape.


Yahya was arrested from the Gurranpannapalya area on Bannerghatta Road in the city by a team of Corps of Detectives (CoD) of Bangalore police on Thursday. He was arrested on the basis of information disclosed during the interrogation of a terrorist who was recently arrested in Uttar Pradesh.


The 32-year-old suspect is a native of a village near Kozhikode in Kerala and has worked with General Electric (GE) Software in the past.


According to the police he had been living in Banglaore for the last eight years and was unemployed for the past few months after the firm GE sacked him last year for his rather suspicious activities.