Ill-treated and tortured in SL jails, complain freed fishermen

The Nagapattinam district administration and the Fisheries Department had made special arrangements for the fishermen to reach their howetowns. The fishermen alleged that they faced ill-treatment in the Lankan prisons.

The Indian fishermen were apprehended by the Lankan navy on charges of violating International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing in the Sri Lankan waters from October 2017 to January 2018. 

Official sources said after the Lankan court ordered the release of the fishermen who were from Nagapattinam, Karaikal, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, they were taken by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard and handed over to the Indian Coast Guard on the boundary of the Indian waters around 11 am on Tuesday. 

All the 109 fishermen subsequently boarded the Ranidurgavati and Atulya vessels of the Indian Coast Guard and landed at the Karaikal private port around 8 pm. Nagapattinam Collector S Suresh Kumar and Joint Director (Fisheries department) Reena Selvin welcomed the fishermen on arrival. After completing official formalities, they have been sent to their respective villages along with their relatives and officials of the districts. 

According to the officials, among the fishermen, as many as 30 were from Nagapattinam, 10 from Karaikal, four from Thangachimadam, four from Mandapam, 38 from Rameswaram, 18 from Jagathapattinam and five from Kottaippattinam. Meanwhile, the repatriated fishermen alleged that they had faced ill-treatment in the Sri Lankan prisons. Even the police too had manhandled them, they charged. “Though we are happy about our return, they have not released our boats without which our livelihood is uncertain,” one of the fishermen said.

Eight of the 14 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were held in Iran have been issued release orders and they will land in Chennai at 4.30 am on Wednesday. Following demands by the kin of the fishermen and fishermen leaders, the Indian government has obtained the release orders for the fishermen. 

The fishermen were identified as Alfred Newton Sahayam (37), Siluvai (34), Jude Frank Herban (23), John Prakash (31), all from Kanniyakumari district, Gladwin (54), Chenkiskhan (27), Udhayaa Kumar(44), all from Tirunelveli district, and Yonas (32), from Thoothukudi district. 

Speaking to DT Next, Justin Antony, founding president, International Fishermen Development Trust, who established contact with the Indian Embassy in Iran and played a major role in the release of the fishermen, said the eight fishermen travelled in the same boat and so they were released in the first phase.