KOCHI: About three-and-a-half years of captivity in the dingy cells of Togo, a West African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, had not only drained their energy but also the spirit to fight against the odds. However, they were hopeful of homecoming one day.
Five Keralities - Shaji of Aluva, Tharun Babu and Nidhin Babu of Keerthi Nagar in Kochi, Godwin Antony of Cheranallur and Nivin Gopi of Thevara - who were detained by Togo, after being mistaken for pirates, returned home on Friday night ending their years-long incarceration along with dreaded criminals in the African country.
The mere sight of homeland was all they needed to forget their ordeal in the Togo prison. It was the intervention of the External Affairs Ministry that made the early release of the prisoners possible even at this stage.
Speaking to media persons at Cochin International Airport, they said they had to bribe other prisoners to get a decent space in the congested cell to stretch their body in the night.
Since they were lodged with prisoners infected with various diseases, every month they had to take vaccination and steroids. “At times we were made to sleep in standing position as other local prisoners used to occupy the available space.
Besides, we had to bribe other prisoners to escape from the physical torture. The money sent by our families in Kerala was used for bribing them,” they said. They reached the African country in June 2013 after being offered a new job in a shipping company by a Kochi native Arun Chandra. However, they were arrested by Togo police on July 18.