Mumbai Mirror

Chennai, Nov 23: An Indian chief officer, working in a Maldivian ship was brutally murdered, about 200 miles off Maldives on November 15 when the vessel was on way to Thoothukudi Port. 

The Maldivian police, strangely, closed the case terming it a suicide despite the body was being found with the hands tied and throat slit open. Thoothukudi government general hospital doctors, who did the post-mortem on Wednesday, have termed it a clear case of murder.

FELIX HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE MANAGEMENT, SAYS WIFE

Felix Mascrenhas had signed off from the ship on November 2, on account of getting a better offer from another vessel. He returned to Thoothukudi and asked his employers, Privilege Shipping and Trading Company Pvt Ltd, Maldives, to send his continuous discharge certificate (CDS), a vital document to get re-employed in any other ship.

The company refused to relieve him and assigned an agent at Thoothukudi to get Felix back on duty, said the Felix’s younger brother Fidelis. The agent promised to give Felix the CDS when he reached Maldives, and made him board a Maldives-bound flight from Thiruvananthapuram. On reaching Maldives, the employer forced Felix to report for duty on November 13 and the vessel set sail the next day.

On November 16, the ship’s management sent a fax to the Thoothukudi agent saying Felix had committed suicide. Felix had told his wife Sudha on several occasions that he had problems with the management and that his life was in danger, said Fidelis.

The Thoothukudi Town police were reluctant to receive the complaint, as the murder did not take place in their jurisdiction. Only after the Sailors’ Helpline pointed out that as per the maritime law, the Indian police were bound to register the case if an Indian sailor was killed on board a foreign vessel, Thoothukudi police registered the case.

CASE MAY HAVE TO GO TO CBI, SAYS LAWYER

P Muthusamy, a marine lawyer, said if police do not further investigate the case, the family will have to move the court and get a directive to hand over the case to CBI. Only the central agency can seek the assistance of Interpol to nab the culprits, who may be foreign nationals, Muthusamy pointed out.

Deputy director of Seamen Employees' Welfare, R M Elango told Mumbai Mirror that the case could be taken to its logical conclusion only by the Director General (DG) of Shipping.

Manoj Joy of Sailors' Helpline said it was the normal practice to term death on board as suicide to avoid paying compensation. He said he had already sent a communication to the DG Shipping, G S Sahni, seeking her intervention into the case.

The case was an indicator of the increasing risk to the lives of Indian seafarers working world over, he said adding that every year, about 30 to 40 Indians died in ships or disappeared from vessels under mysterious circumstances.