CBI files ‘closure report’ into 2015 Finnish national’s death

Over the last decade, 245 foreign tourists have lost their lives in Goa, some of which have taken place in mysterious circumstances leaving their families without a sense of closure

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a ‘closure report’ into the death of Finnish national Felix Dahl who was found dead along a lonely stretch of road at Canacona in South Goa.

Finnish national Felix Dahl, 22, was found dead in Goa at Canacona in South Goa in 2015 (Facebook Photo)

Dahl was found dead with multiple skull fractures and brain haemorrhage on an interior road in Canacona, South Goa, on January 28, 2015.

A CBI official confirmed that the investigating agency was closing the case due to the “lack of evidence.”

The CBI has been probing the case since August 2018 and despite recreating the scene and interrogating possible suspects, the cause of Dahl’s death is likely to remain inconclusive.

According to the police who were probing the case, Dahl was fond of acrobatics and fell after he lost balance while doing cartwheels resulting in accidental death.

The conclusion by Goa police prompted Dahl’s mother Minna Pirhonen to approach the high court of Bombay at Goa seeking that the investigation be handed over to CBI.

The high court while hearing a petition filed by Pirhonen ruled that the investigation conducted by the Goa Police was apparently “faulty and prejudiced” and “meandering towards a predetermined end” and ordered CBI to take over the case in 2018.

Over the last decade, 245 foreign tourists have lost their lives in Goa, some of which have taken place in mysterious circumstances leaving their families without a sense of closure.

In December, a 42-year-old British woman was allegedly raped and robbed in Goa’s Palolem beach village.

In March 2017, a young Irish tourist Danielle McLaughlin allegedly was raped and murdered in Palolem village in South Goa.

In March this year, two incidents of alleged attacks on foreign tourists were reported from different parts of Goa.

On March 30, a 29-year-old Dutch woman was allegedly molested and stabbed by a resort staffer in Goa hours after she arrived for a yoga retreat in the state. The incident took place in north Goa’s Pernem town.

On March 24, a Russian tourist was allegedly assaulted in her hotel room in North Goa.

Earlier this month, a tourist family from Delhi was allegedly attacked by the staffers of a resort in Goa’s Anjuna over a scuffle.