Two charged with murder of Scottish woman in Mauritius

Two 25-year-old men have appeared in court in Mauritius charged with the murder of a Scottish woman who was living on the Indian Ocean island.

Janice Farman, who was 47 and originally from Clydebank, died in a robbery at her home on Friday.

The two suspects, who are both from Palma in the town of Quatre Bornes, were remanded in custody for a week.

A Mauritius Police Force spokesman said they had not made a plea at this stage.

The men have been named by local media as Kamlesh Mansing and Lovish Fakoo.

Police have said they are still looking for a third man.

Ms Farman was killed in front of her 10-year-old autistic son.

A post-mortem examination indicated that she died as a result of asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck.

The intruders fled with a number of items, including jewellery and her car, a Nissan Tiida, which was later found abandoned by the side of the road.

Ms Farman first visited Mauritius in 1999 and later went to live in there after her first husband went to work there.

She had been working as the managing director of PECS (Mauritius) Ltd, a privately owned group of companies providing data services.

She had recently moved to Albion, in the west of the island.

She was well known in Mauritius, making headlines when she adopted her son. The ten-year-old, who raised the alarm after the robbery by phoning a family friend, remains under the care of local child services.

The BBC's World Service correspondent in Mauritius, Yasine Mohabuth, who knew Ms Farman, told BBC Scotland she was a "lovely person" who "got along with everyone".

"Be it the cleaner in the kitchen, or the higher managers or the middle workers, she treated everybody equally," he said.

"Even some of the younger women used to call her mum."

The British Foreign Office has said it is in contact with local authorities in Mauritius about the case.