Family awaits jailed Mumbai sailor's return to lay baby to rest

To say that this is a trying time for the James family would be an understatement While Sunil 28 has been languishing in a Togo prison for months after the ship he was manning was captured by pirates earlier this year he now has to bear the grief to losing his 11monthold son to septicaemia Sunil James with the newborn and a recent picture of Vivaan Vivaan who passed away on December 2 is now identified by badge no 7 at the Cooper Hospital mortuary his lifeless body waiting for a final embrace from his father The family is hoping against hope that Sunil will be able to return to familiar shores and perform the last rites for his son but as hours lengthen into days that ray of hope is a flickering one Vivaan James left Mumbai in the last week of April on a fourmonth contract with Ms Union Maritime a UKbased shipping company He flew to Lagos Africa and took charge of the vessel MT Ocean Centurion there ldquoSunil was to return to India in August and had promised a joint celebration for his wife Aditirsquos birthday in September and Vivaanrsquos first birthday in December But destiny has played a cruel game with usrdquo said Rakesh Madappa 33 Sunilrsquos brotherinlaw who has flown from Bangalore to be with Aditi Sunil James and his wife Aditi with Vivaan During an operation on December 2 the infant passed away when he was 11 months old At the time of his detention Sunil was told that the Togo authorities were probing if any of the sailors in any way abetted the piracy While the case hangs in limbo his family members wait ldquoPlease send my husband back so that he put his child to rest and bid him goodbye for the last timerdquo is Aditirsquos desperate refrain to everyone who visits the family at their Malad home Vivaan Tragic death According to Rakesh Vivaan was diagnosed with intussusceptions a condition in which a part of the intestine slides into an adjacent part This lsquotelescopingrsquo often blocks food or fluid from passing through Vivaan had undergone a surgical procedure when he was only three months old On November 30 around 730 pm the child started throwing up and was taken to a nearby private nursing home MiD DAY had reported on the sailorrsquos plight on September 5 He was prescribed medicines for a suspected stomach infection but the vomiting persisted On Sunday he was taken to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri and was referred to paediatric surgeon Dr Nishat Nanavati who conducted various tests on him and found a blockage He conducted an emergency surgery which started at 230 am on December 2 and lasted three hours MiD DAYrsquos report on September 5 Rakesh said ldquoIt was during the operation that the surgeon found that Vivaanrsquos intestine had developed gangrene with septicemia that had spread to his blood stream An approximate 12 inches of the intestine had to be removed but post surgery around 830 am Vivaan passed away in the ICUrdquo Speaking to MiD DAY Dr Nishat Nanavati said ldquoThis is a case of severe gangrene of the small intestine The child was in a bad shape and had already developed septicemia We had to remove and rejoin one third of his affected intestine during the surgery The child could withstand the surgery but even before the antibiotic could control the spread of septicemia he succumbedrdquo Waiting for dad The family has made the difficult decision not to perform his last rites just yet Rakesh said ldquoWe do not want to deprive a father of his right to lay his only child to rest Vivaan is being kept in the mortuary and identified as number 7 in the morgue I go every morning to see himrdquo He added ldquoWe have been told by numerous people to go ahead with the cremation Letrsquos face it going ahead with the funeral will help a lot of people move on and forget about Sunil especially the Government of India since we refuse to forget about him But this is so much larger than that How can we not afford Sunil the only chance he will ever get in this life to say goodbye to his darling angel ldquoWe have informed all the officials concerned including the embassy about the demise of Vivaan The death certificate copies have been sent to them but we still havenrsquot heard from the authoritiesrdquo said Rakeshu00a0ldquoMy government the people I voted for the people I pay taxes to have so far done nothing for my family Captain Sunil James is my brotherinlaw He is being held captive in Togo pending investigation since July 20 We approached the Indian government at the time whereby the Minster for External Affairs Salman Khurshid provided a statement on national television that his office is aware of the incident and is looking into it Must be a very deep well since they are still lsquolooking into itrsquordquo said an emotional Rakesh Trip to Togo ldquoI took it upon myself to visit Togo a land where I knew no one and where people speak a language I donrsquot understand just to try and do what the government did not walk the walk and not just talk I spent approximately 25 days in Togo from midSeptember to midOctober running from pillar to post against insurmountable odds not to just secure the freedom of my brotherinlaw but the other two crewmembers who are being held with himrdquo said Rakesh ldquoUpon considerable followup the abetment to piracy charges against Sunil that were previously being investigated were dropped or so my lawyer in Togo informed me Yes I secured legal services in Togo since our government certainly didnrsquot The shipping company Accord Marine also confirmed the dropping of chargesrdquo ldquoWhat else is the crew being investigated for Not a single person in Togo is able to answer but rest assured they are being investigated or so I am toldrdquo Rakesh said sarcastically ldquoSince then I have been diligently following up with various individuals from Togo many times a day every day to no effect I am being told that they will be released shortly that there is no evidence of any crime against them but that lsquoshortlyrsquo is stretching out to be months maybe years I had to return emptyhandedrdquo Officials say We have put our request through our lawyers in Togo seeking immediate release of Sunil James for the last rites of his son We are also in touch with the local agent counsellor office and even the superintendent but havenrsquot got any feedback yet We were hoping for Sunilrsquos release and had even kept the ticket ready for him to return to India We understand the trauma that the family is going through and are providing every possible support to them at this hour or crisis Captain Nilesh Gandhi Head Fleet Personnel Accord Marine I have explained to the lawyers in Togo that the body of the child is lying in the morgue for the last three days and they have assured us that they would put the facts before the court today We as owners are pushing hard to ensure that Sunil and others arrested are set free and they return to India at the earliest but the court has to finally pass its order We all are standing by the family of Sunil James in this hour of crisis and supporting them in every possible manner Bhuvanesh Dogra technical manager Union Maritime ship owners United Kingdom We have approached the Togo government requesting their intervention and asking them to release Sunil James but we have been informed that as the matter is under judicial process the government cannot intervene and would have to wait for the court order We have been informed that the investigating agency Togo police claim to have circumstantial evidence against the arrested crewmembers who have been accused of abetting the pirates We do not have any direct access to the authorities probing the case but we have learnt that the Togo police claim that Sunil had allegedly instructed the second engineer to switch off the engine leading to settlement with the pirates Senior official Indian High Commission in Ghana