KOLLAM: Welcoming the verdict in the Italian marines case by the international tribunal, the wife of one of the two fishermen killed in the firing by the two marines on Italian ship ‘Enrica Lexie’, said they are happy even though the verdict came late. “Though it took eight long years, I am happy with the verdict and I thank the government for their full support,” Dora, wife of Valentine Jalastine, told TNIE.
She said while they received some compensation in the initial days, that was not enough to run the family and bring up her two children alone. “As my husband was the lone breadwinner of the family and my children were young when the incident happened, I had gone through a lot of difficulties in bringing them up. No other family should have to go through what I faced,” said Dora.
After her husband’s death, the state government provided Dora a job in the Fisheries department as compensation. The couple has two children — Derrick Valentine, 26, and Jeen Valentine, 18. Valentine Jalastine, who belonged to Neendakara in Kollam, and Ajesh Binki, who hailed from Colachel in Kanyakumari district, were killed when the Italian marines — Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone — on board ‘Enrica Lexie’ opened fire on their fishing boat St Antony off Alappuzha coast on February 15, 2012, mistaking them for pirates.