It was a happy reunion after 10 months for Infant Viju (25), a marine engineer belonging to a tiny coastal village Vaniyakudi near Colachel in Kanyakumari district, on Saturday.
He was held captive, along with 22 others, by Somali pirates. All the 22 crew of a Egyptian cargo vessel, mv Suez, were abducted by the pirates from mid-sea.
Infant Viju was given a warm welcome by his parents and his friends. Later, he said that it was like he was born again as he and the others were put to untold hardship by the abductors.
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They had sleepless nights for the past 10 months. All the crew members were not given proper food and even water. Thanks to efforts taken by a social activist from Pakistan, Ansar Burney, they were released after paying the ransom to the pirates, he said.