Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Monday will be a very crucial day for the aggrieved family of Indian Merchant Navy Captain Sunil James as a Togo court is set to decide whether he will be allowed to return home to perform the last rites of his only son, who was 11-months old.
With the death of his only child Vivaan on Dec 2, the tragedy has deepened for Captain Sunil James and his wife Aditi, who has been pleading Indian authorities to help release her husband.
The couple`s 11-month old toddler Vivaan died of septicaemia last Monday after the gangrene in his intestine couldn`t be cured and the infection spread to the bloodstream.
The child was undergoing treatment at Mumbai`s Holy Spirit Hospital, where his dead body is kept in the morgue.
The Captain`s wife Aditi is waiting for the Togo court to allow the release of her husband at least for the last rites of only child.
Captain James was arrested on July 31 on charges of helping the pirates who attacked and robbed his Marshal Island-flagged ship MT Centurion on July 16 near the West African nation of Togo.
For last four months he has been jailed under very pathetic condition as earlier his wife Aditi reportedly said her husband had been living on bread and that he had fever and an infection in one eye, and the jail had no proper medical care.
Sunil`s family has been complaining that their pleadings to get him released have had little impact on the government.
However, Indian consular officials met the jailed captain in his cell on Saturday, reports said.
And the Ministry of External Affairs said that the whole issue was being taken care of by the Indian Mission in Accra, which also deals with Togo.
The Ministry added that Indian officials were in contact with Togo authorities to secure Sunil James` early release on "compassionate ground".
