KANNIYAKUMARI: The agonising wait for a closure regarding the deaths of their loved ones ended on Tuesday, as the families of eight fishermen received the death certificates of the cyclone Phyan victims after 15 years.
Sources said eight fishermen from the district, who ventured into the Arabian Sea, have been missing since November 11, 2009, and are believed to have been killed.
The fishers were identified as G Jimmy Kuttan (22), A Anish (23), P Stalin (23), D Romans (24), S Mariarajan (27), and S Dasan (52) from Thoothoor, J Seesadimai from Vallavilai and I John Clittous (30) from Poothurai.
The families of the victims met with authorities concerned to get the death certificates. In 2022, the then Collector M Arvind issued a notification to investigate whether the fishermen were missing. “If no information is received within 15 days of the notification’s publication, it would be construed that the fishermen died during Cyclone Phyan,” the notification added.
The relatives of the fishermen also moved the court to get the death certificates of the missing persons.
Based on the court order, the district administration took steps and issued death certificates to seven persons on Tuesday. Only the family of John Clittous is waiting to receive the death certificate.
P Roselet Mary, mother of Stalin, said, “It has been a long struggle. Worrying about our son, my husband Peter passed away in 2017. It took almost 15 years to receive a death certificate. My family has incurred debt owing to all these problems. The government should provide `20 lakh in compensation and a government job to a family member.”
D Anto, son of Dasan, said, “As the family had lost a breadwinner, we could not go fishing for many days. We had to meet with authorities to receive the death certificate of my father. After losing money and our livelihoods for many days, finally we received the certificates.”
International Fishermen Development Trust (INFIDET) president P Justin Antony said, “District Collector R Alagumeena and District Revenue Officer J Balasubramaniam made efforts to produce the death certificates. We urge for `20 lakh compensation and a government job for the kin of each deceased.”