London: Slain British tourist Stephen Bennett's family has strongly denied reports from India that he was a drug addict, and has raised several questions related to his death in a village near Mumbai in December.
Amanda Bennett, Stephen's sister, said in an e-mailed despatch: "My brother was not a drug addict. He did not have AIDS (post mortem results confirm this). He was hanged with his arms behind his back."
"Why did the Goan police say this was suicide? Where was his bag? The police cannot explain how it sat on a train for three weeks? He was on the phone to us whilst trying to escape some men he met on Baga beach. Transcripts are available," she added.
Amanda also denied reports that she or her mother had visited India or that they had met the "woman he scared" in Roha village where, according to earlier versions, he had stopped to ask directions which later purportedly led to his lynching and death.
Meanwhile, in a report from India, The Independent claimed that according to police officials in Goa, Stephen was involved in dealing drugs and was himself an addict.
The report said that the police were investigating the possibility that the killing may be linked to the drugs trade, and added that there were allegations that he had been arrested in the UK for growing marijuana plants shortly before he flew to India in December.
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