Body of Merchant Navy trainee who died aboard ship in England brought home in Mohali after 22 days

The body of a 20-year-old merchant navy trainee from Balongi, who died aboard a ship in England under mysterious circumstances, was brought to Mohali on Monday, 22 days after his death.

The last rites of the deceased, Balraj Singh, 20, were performed after autopsy at the Mohali civil hospital.

His father, Vikram Singh, said few officers from the merchant navy visited their home on March 16, claiming that his son hanged himself to death aboard the ship in England.

Refuting the claims of the officials, Balraj’s family said that he had no reason to take such an extreme step. “On March 16, we received a video call from Balraj around 5.30 am here. At that time, it was 11.30 pm in the UK. He talked to us for around 20 minutes and also told us that he was going to the Netherlands where he would go shopping. On the same day, around 9 pm, the merchant navy officers came to our house and informed us about his death, leaving us shocked,” Vikram said. Vikram, along with a relative and the navy officials, then left for the UK to bring back the body.

The family alleged that Balraj was tortured during his training and was made to work continuously for 36 hours. “When I confronted the officials, they claimed that my son worked only for eight hours a day, while my son told us that he was not able to take off his shoes for around 36 hours. He was also harassed by his seniors,” Vikram said. Balraj had gone to Singapore on December 7 last year, and further sailed to England for training, following which he would have been appointed as a cadet officer.