Anitha Appalakonda is eagerly waiting for her husband, Surada, to return home so that she can tell him the good news — she gave birth to a boy in December.
She is not sure if he knows yet that he is a father, because she has not spoken to him for three months. Surada, a fisherman from Jalaripeta fishing village in Visakhapatnam, has been in jail in Bangladesh since October last year. His boat, which had nine fishermen from Andhra Pradesh, was detained by the Bangladesh Coast Guard in October after it was found in their territorial waters.
While the fishermen have been lodged in jail in Bangladesh’s Bagerhat district since then, on January 21, a court ordered their release. On Tuesday, they finally walked out of jail and are on their way home.
The news came as a major relief to Anitha. “I went through a lot, I cannot describe it. He left home early in the morning of October 13. Till about 1 pm, there was mobile connectivity, so he called and we chatted for some time. Then, his phone became unreachable. Since then, it has been mental torture. But I had to take care of my baby and hope for the best,” she said.
V Satyanarayana, the owner of the boat seized by Bangladeshi authorities, said, “Anitha’s life turned upside down, and she was in distress and trauma. She was in advanced pregnancy when Surada was arrested. There was no way to communicate and find out how he and the others were.”
“I was with the family when she delivered the boy, and I think Surada is still unaware. The boat had an engine failure and drifted into Bangladeshi waters. It was such an ordeal since then,” Satyanarayana told The Indian Express.
Surada and his cousins, M Appanna and Ramesh, were among those on the boat.
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Their families became especially concerned when a court hearing of the fishermen’s case was postponed due to the death penalty hearing of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and several parts of the country saw unrest and the imposition of curfew.
Appanna’s mother, Yelamma, said, “Everyone was giving negative reports that there was violence in Bangladesh, which really scared us. My husband and I fell ill, fearing the worst for our sons.”
Sunita, a relative of V Satish, another fisherman who was on the boat, said, “We spent a lot of time worrying because we were hearing reports of violence in Bangladesh. It was only after a lawyer was hired that we got to know through him that all the fishermen are safe.”
The nine fishermen on the boat were all originally from Vizianagaram, but moved to Visakhapatnam to work on long-range fishing boats that pay better.
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“All of the nine fishermen’s families belong to socially and economically weaker sections. If the fishing season is good, they earn enough; otherwise, it is a struggle. When fishermen are arrested, their families bear the brunt,” said P Lakshman Rao, joint director, Fisheries Department, who coordinated with various agencies to aid in the release of the men.
The boat owner, Satyanarayana, said that through contacts in the fishing industry in Odisha and West Bengal, the Fisheries Department and he were able to contact someone in Bangladesh and engaged a lawyer, who filed petitions for the men in court.
N Narasimha, a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Mechanised Fishing Boat Owners Association, said, “We paid about Rs 50,000 as legal fees, Rs 35,000 to get the boat’s engine repaired, and paid for the delivery of food to the jail twice a day. We spent about Rs 3 lakh, and we are glad they are on their way home. The boat owner took care of most of the expenses while donors ensured the families received weekly payments and dry rations.”
