Merchant Navy Captain's Wife Moves SC, Claims Husband Alive and Held Captive
The wife of Merchant Navy Captain Ashish Kumar has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court, claiming her husband is alive and illegally detained by foreign actors. Kumar, 37, from Bettiah in Bihar, was presumed dead five months ago when a missile struck the oil tanker Sky Light near Oman's Khasab port on March 1. While eight crew members were rescued, Kumar and another sailor went missing.
Omani authorities later found burnt remains in the captain's quarters, which the Indian Embassy suggested likely belonged to Kumar. However, forensic and DNA testing of the remains against samples provided by the captain's brother yielded negative results, prompting the family to contest the presumed death conclusion.
In her petition, Kumar's wife says she received a ransom call demanding Rs 20 lakh for his release and that a WhatsApp message to his secondary phone was successfully delivered over three hours after the strike, suggesting the device remained active. She has sought government intervention through diplomatic and intelligence channels to locate and produce the captain.
