Woman falls to her death off cruise liner

She was on a holiday with her husband in Singapore; MEA gets into action after sons’ social media posts seeking help go viral

Mumbai: After 24 hours of frantic communication between co-founder of Goila Butter Chicken, Vivek Sahani, and his Melbourne-based businessman brother Apoorv, with authorities of a cruise liner, where their parents were holidaying, and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) it emerged that their mother who had “gone missing” onboard had actually died.

The Sahani brothers took to social media platforms on Monday seeking help from Indian authorities as soon as they received news from the cruise staff on Monday that their mother had jumped off the liner. Their posts suggested that Reeta Sahani, 64, was sailing with her husband Jakesh Sahani, 67, on the Singapore-based cruise liner Spectrum of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises.

The Sahani brothers took to social media platforms on Monday seeking help from Indian authorities as soon as they received news from the cruise staff on Monday that their mother had jumped off the liner. Their posts suggested that Reeta Sahani, 64, was sailing with her husband Jakesh Sahani, 67, on the Singapore-based cruise liner Spectrum of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Apoorv wasted no time in tagging external affairs minister S Jaishankar from his Twitter handle at around 7:30 pm on Monday. His Tweet stated: “My mother was travelling in Royal Caribbean cruise (Spectrum of the Seas) from Singapore. She has gone missing from the ship since this morning. Cruise staff are saying she jumped, but they have not shown us any footage and are washing their hands off.” In a subsequent Tweet where he tagged the PMO, he said: “They didn’t carry out any rescue operation and off boarded my dad. Is this even humane?”

At around 11 am on Tuesday, Vivek shared on his Instagram page: “Royal Caribbean questioned my dad for hours but refused to actually show us or give proof as to what happened to my mom or fully search for her on the liner or did proper rescue operation.”

The couple were on a four-day cruise, and on their way back to Singapore from Penang aboard the cruise liner, reported Singapore daily ‘The Straits Times’ on Monday evening, Singapore time. The newspaper reported Jakesh woke up to find his wife missing. He tried to locate her, but on failing, informed the crew. He was told that the vessel’s onboard detection systems had been alerted that something had fallen from the ship into the Singapore Strait.

On Tuesday evening, Saransh Goila, Vivek’s business partner spoke to HT about the incident. He shared that the couple was on a holiday. “The ship was supposed to dock Monday when the family learnt the news. The Indian Embassy in Singapore and the MEA in India responded to their call for help on social media platforms,” said Goila.

The brothers’ social media posts had gone viral and by Tuesday evening the High Commission of India (HCI) in Singapore tweeted: “HCI is in constant touch with the Sahani family since the news of the unfortunate incident reached us. We are also in close contact with Singaporean authorities to address related issues and are facilitating legal procedures.”

The cruise liner’s spokesperson responded to this newspaper’s email query, stating that a “guest went overboard on Spectrum of the Seas and the crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and launched a search and rescue operation. The shipboard team is working with local authorities, and our Care Team is offering assistance and support to the family. Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”

The representative did not respond to queries on the search and rescue operation. However, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) issued a statement, saying, “it was notified that a passenger onboard a Cyprus-flagged passenger vessel, Spectrum of the Seas, had fallen overboard in the Singapore Strait en route into Singapore”. It added that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) “coordinating the search had issued navigational safety broadcast to vessels in the Singapore Strait and vessels in port to keep a lookout for the missing person and report any sightings to MRCC Singapore”.

By the evening both brothers shared the news of their mother’s demise on social media platforms, thanking authorities for showing their “overwhelming support in this time of distress”. They added that the cruise liner had “finally shared the footage and a search was also underway”.

“Ironically, today is also her birthday,” Apoorv posted on Twitter.