NEW DELHI: India has urgently requested Venezuelan authorities to investigate the alleged desecration of an Indian sailor’s body after his family claimed all vital organs were removed before his mortal remains were repatriated.“We have taken up the matter with Venezuelan authorities with a request to urgently investigate the matter,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.The Indian Embassy in Caracas has sought a thorough investigation into the desecration and removal of organs from the mortal remains of Indian sailor Rakesh Chauhan. “Mission has continued to pursue this matter with the concerned local authorities since the incident came to light,” the embassy said in a statement.
Family alleges murder, organ removal
Chauhan’s wife, Ranjana, alleged that her husband died under suspicious circumstances while working aboard a vessel in Venezuela, with his organs removed before the body was returned to India.“My husband had gone to work on a ship; he was murdered there, and his organs were removed. To this day, they haven’t given us a proper report, despite our repeated requests,” she told ANI.She said the family decided to conduct a second post-mortem after the body reached India. “When we had a second post-mortem done here, the report revealed that not a single organ remained in the body… I last spoke to him on 6 May. It was only two or three hours after he left for duty that my father-in-law received a call saying there had been an accident,” she said.
Union flags irregularities, missing organs
The Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI) claimed the post-mortem conducted in India found no internal organs in Chauhan’s body. According to the union, the brain, heart, both lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, pancreas, stomach, intestines, thyroid, hyoid bone, larynx and trachea were all reportedly missing.The union also alleged irregularities in the documentation, claiming the receipt for mortal remains was forged — signed in the name of “Anjana Chauraisya” instead of “Ranjana Chaurasiya” — and that the vessel name mentioned in the employment agreement did not match the one where he was actually posted.
