The Latin Catholic Church has decided to file a habeas corpus petition before the Kerala High Court so that the Central and State governments continue the search for fishers who have gone missing following cyclone Ockhi.
Thiruvananthapuram Latin archdiocese Vicar General Fr. Eugene H. Pereira said here on Friday that the Church had decided to move the High Court in the light of the divergence in the number of persons actually missing from coastal hamlets and the numbers being put out by government agencies. While the government estimates that there are as many as 146 persons missing, the Church’s estimate is that 241 fishers from Thiruvananthapuram alone are yet to return home after cyclone Ockhi. The Latin Catholic Church has been campaigning for intensification of the search to rescue the survivors and recover the bodies of those who might have perished in the cyclone.
The figures put out by the Revenue Department earlier this week had stated that First Information Reports (FIRs) had been reported in respect of 146 missing persons and that a separate list of 34 persons had also been prepared. “We have decided to move a habeas corpus petition before the High Court as there is a grave mismatch between our own estimates and those of the government,” Fr. Pereira told reporters.
Two bodies identified
Two bodies that had been kept at the government medical college here and the Kollam district hospital were identified on Friday through DNA test. Both the bodies are those of fishers hailing from coastal hamlets here. As many as seven bodies kept at the medical college are yet to be identified. The condition of some of those admitted to the medical college here is stated to be serious.
The State government has got in touch with the Indian Ambassador to Oman to verify reports that bodies have been found along the Oman coast. A State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) communication said the State was awaiting a response from Oman.
