Funeral for murdered backpacker

Stephen Bennett was an experienced traveller

The funeral has taken place in Cheltenham of British tourist Stephen Bennett, who was found hanged in the jungle in India last month.

At least 250 people were in the chapel at Cheltenham Crematorium and many were forced to stand in the aisles and inside the doorway.

They heard school friend Alex Masardo pay tribute to Mr Bennett, whose body was found on 11 December.

Four men have been charged with the 40-year-old's murder.

Indian police originally claimed the father-of-two was beaten to death by a gang of villagers in Malsai after they mistook him for a sex attacker.

But his parents, Carol and Maureen, have questioned this version and have begun making their own inquiries, claiming to expose a series of flaws in the police investigation.

The Bennett's believe the former actor was kidnapped and killed on his way to Malsai and then hanged by a sari from a mango tree in the village in a clumsy attempt to make it look like suicide.

Last week local detectives were relieved of the case and senior officers from the state's Alibaug crime branch took over the inquiry.