KOLLAM: “The government should ensure security to the lives of fisherfolk who can come under similar attacks in the sea. Giving compensation won’t pay for the lost life and it doesn’t mean that such incidents will not recur,” said Dora, wife of Valentine Jalastine, one of the two Indians killed my Italian Marines on Italian ship Enrica Lexie, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The SC on Tuesday quashed the criminal proceedings pending in India against the two Italian Marines for the 2012 sea-firing incident near Kerala coast which killed the Indian fishermen by accepting the compensation of K10 crore deposited by Italy.
“Though it took many years, I am happy that at least the compensation will lift the financial burden that my family and I have been facing after my husband’s death,” Dora told TNIE.She said in the initial days, they had received some compensation but that was not enough to run the family and bring up her two children alone. “As my husband was the lone breadwinner of the family and my children were young when the incident happened, I had gone through a lot of difficulties in bringing them up. No fisherman’s family should meet my fate.”
Dora was provided with a job by the state government in the fisheries department in compensation after her husband’s death. The couple has two children — Derrick Valentine, 27, and Jeen Valentine, 19. Derrick has completed his engineering graduation and is looking for a job and Jeen is pursuing BCom. Jalastine, who belonged to Neendakara in Kollam, and Ajesh Pink, who hailed from Colachel in Kanyakumari district, were killed when the marines -- Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone -- on board Enrica Lexie opened fire on their fishing boat, St Antony, off Alappuzha coast on February 15, 2012, mistaking them for pirates.
Fishermen upset with govts
The Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF) said the SC verdict in the sensational case was not in favour of India and it is an injustice towards the fishermen community. The main demand of the community was to prosecute the marines on charges of murder. But the successive governments in India have adopted a policy of protecting the Italian soldiers, said KSMTF state president Jackson Pollayil.The Central and state governments should have taken steps to ensure the safety of fishermen and their boats in the sea, said Jackson.