Kanyakumari: A Kanyakumari fisherman engaged in fishing in the Saudi Arabian waters was shot dead by pirates on Friday. According to Fr. Churchill, general secretary of South Asian fishermen fraternity (SAFF), Mathivalan (45) fishing along with seven of his Tamil colleagues in the launch belonging to their Saudi sponsor, Mohammed Mubharak, within the Arabian territorial waters on May 29, was killed in an indiscriminate firing by the sea pirates.
The deceased fishermen, Mathivalan’s wife Mary Bellag (32) along with her aged mother-in-law, Philomina (73) and two children, Anton Jeritto (14) and Antus Jerrisha(10) urged the Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa to take immediate action to bring her husband’s body safely to Kanyakumari.
Fr. Churchill, in a memorandum to the Modi government, urged to press the Saudi Arabian regime to provide adequate protection to Indian fishermen working in Saudi Arabia. Further, the SAFF demanded a compensation of Rs10 lakh for the family of the fisherman killed by pirates and stated that the Indian government should file a case against the government concerned for its failure to ensure protection to Mathivalan.
Seven other colleagues of Mathivalan working in the launch during the attack by the sea pirates too are said to be in great distress and hence the SAFF also demanded that all of them belonging to Kanyakumari district should be immediately brought back safely to Tamil Nadu.
