Juvenile claim of 8 Somalian pirates rejected, sent to judicial custody
Special court remands 8 Somalian pirates to judicial custody till August 13 after Juvenile Justice Board rejects their claim of juvenility when they hijacked a cargo ship.
MUMBAI: A special court on Wednesday remanded eight Somalian pirates to judicial custody till August 13 after the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) rejected their claim of juvenility and declared they were not minors when they hijacked the cargo ship, MV Ruen. The eight young men would now be tried along with 27 other Somalian pirates as adults.
The group of 35 Somalian nationals were arrested by the Indian Navy on March 16, 2024, for allegedly hijacking a merchant vessel. After hijacking the cargo ship, which had around 17 crew members, the pirates had called the owners, demanding ₹500 crore as ransom to free the ship and the crew. That was when the Indian Navy’s INS Kolkata reached the spot, rescued the crew and the ship, and apprehended the pirates. The group was brought to Mumbai and handed over to the Yellow Gate police for further investigation and trial.
The police booked the group under sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 383 (extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 342 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days), 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and the Arms Act, 1959.
After eight of the 35 pirates claimed to be juveniles and produced documents like birth certificate, school leaving certificate, etc., to substantiate their claims, the eight Somali nationals were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board while the other were first remanded to police custody and later to judicial custody.
The eight, who claimed to be minors, were remanded to a children’s home – in accordance with provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Later, an ossification test - a test done to determine the age of the person based on the assessment of the bone framework – revealed that the eight Somali nationals were not minors. The Juvenile Justice Board, in its report, submitted that the eight Somalis were major and stated that the documents produced by them were fabricated.
Hence, the Yellow Gate police on Wednesday produced the eight before a special court where special public prosecutor Ranjeet Sangle, appearing for the police, sought their custody remand. The court took cognizance of the report given by the Juvenile Justice Board and sent the eight Somalian pirates to judicial custody till 13 August.