Indian sailors on Friday recounted the horrors they faced during their 10-month captivity by Somali pirates who kept them in chains, often without food or water, and treated them “like animals”.
The six sailors, freed after the payment of a $2.1 million ransom, also thanked Pakistan’s government for its role in their release during an emotional reunion with family members at New Delhi airport. Pakistan worked with Egypt to free the Egyptian-registered cargo ship Suez which was hijacked in August 2010 with the six Indians, four Pakistanis, 11 Egyptians and a Sri Lankan on board.“We were in darkness, we were starving,” said N.K. Sharma, the captain of the ship. “We got just two meals a day.
Sometimes we got water and sometimes not even that.“There were moments when we lost all hope. Whatever Pakistan has done is praiseworthy. They came forward to our help and did not care about nationalities.”Pakistan also sent two ships to help bring the men home, dropping them at Karachi on Thursday before their flight to India.Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney has also been praised for his role in negotiations with the pirates and for helping to raise the ransom.Another Indian sailor, Prashant Chauhan, said he was thrilled to be free after an ordeal in which the captives were routinely beaten and poorly fed.
