Lucknow: Tears, unanswered questions and the daunting responsibility of raising a six-month-old baby alone now define the life of Ranjana, the widow of Indian seafarer Rakesh Chauhan, whose death in Venezuela and the subsequent discovery that nearly all his major internal organs were missing have triggered demands for an international investigation.Sitting beside her husband’s photograph at her maternal home in Sadarpur village in Gorakhpur’s Chauri Chaura area, Ranjana says she has received neither substantive support from the company that recruited her husband for overseas deployment nor any financial assistance since his death.“I want justice. I want to know how my husband died and how his organs went missing,” Ranjana told TOI. “I have a six-month-old son to raise. My husband was the sole breadwinner of the family. The company has not provided any meaningful help or financial compensation.”The case came into public focus after the Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI) raised questions on social media regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of the 33-year-old seafarer from Deoria district. A postmortem conducted in Deoria reportedly found that almost all major internal organs were absent from the body.According to the Federation of Seafarers’ Unions of India, Rakesh’s body was repatriated to India without any detailed autopsy findings or explanation from Venezuelan authorities regarding the precise circumstances of his death. The family subsequently sought a second postmortem examination in Deoria.The findings raised fresh concerns. Doctors reported that most major internal organs—including the brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines—were missing. The report also noted extensive surgical stitching from the neck to the pubic region and another incision across the head, suggesting that a major medical or postmortem procedure had been carried out before the body was returned to India.Married to Rakesh four years ago in an arranged marriage, Ranjana recently completed her graduation. Following her husband’s death, she has begun looking for work to support herself, her infant son Ritwik and the family.Rakesh had worked in the shipping industry for six years. In November 2024, he joined a vessel bound for Venezuela as a marine fitter, responsible for installing, maintaining and repairing mechanical equipment on board ships.“Rakesh died in May under what the company described as an accident onboard the vessel,” alleged his father, Ramdev Chauhan. “However, neither an accident investigation report nor the autopsy report conducted abroad was ever shared with the family.”“The company informed us on the evening of May 7 that Rakesh had suffered serious injuries after falling onboard the ship and that he had just 5% chances of survival,” Ramdev said. “A few hours later, they informed us that he had died, claiming he suffered a heart attack during treatment.”Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the FSUI, described the case as deeply disturbing and called for a transparent inquiry.The union has urged Venezuelan authorities to establish the exact circumstances of Chauhan’s death, release all autopsy and investigation records, and fix accountability if any irregularities are found. It has also sought intervention by the Indian Embassy in Venezuela and demanded adequate compensation for the bereaved family.Second autopsy unable to determine cause of deathLucknow: The postmortem examination in Deoria found that Rakesh Chauhan’s body had already undergone extensive surgical dissection before examination. Long stitched incisions extended from the neck to the pubic region and across the back of the head, suggesting a previous autopsy or organ retrieval procedure.The body showed bluish discoloration and had been preserved in a deep freezer.Doctors reported no visible ante mortem external injuries. However, the internal examination could not be completed because almost all major organs were absent. The report specifically revealed that the brain, heart, both lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, stomach, intestines, thyroid, larynx, trachea, and major blood vessels were missing.In addition, the skull, sternum, and several neck structures were absent. Owing to the absence of these vital organs, the examining doctors concluded that the cause of death could not be determined and were also unable to establish whether the death occurred due to ante mortem or postmortem events.
