Deoria’s 5-year-old waits for father lost in tanker attack off Oman coast

Lucknow: Five-year-old Rajveer and his two-year-old sister Vanika sat side by side on a chair, too young to fully grasp the tragedy unfolding around them. Confusion lingered on their faces as cries echoed through their modest home in Surauli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district. Their mother, grandparents, relatives and neighbours wept inconsolably, while the children looked around, perhaps searching for the one person everyone was mourning — their father, Shivanand Chaurasia (31), who will never return home.Shivanand was among three Indian sailors confirmed dead after a US military strike hit the Palau-flagged oil tanker MT Settebello off the coast of Oman, near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Initially reported missing after the attack, the three seafarers were later confirmed dead, Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.The tanker was carrying 24 Indian crew members at the time. While 21 were rescued, Shivanand and two others lost their lives, turning what began as an ordinary assignment into an unimaginable tragedy for their families.For Shivanand’s family, the devastating news arrived thousands of kilometres away from the waters where he had been working. The first information about his reached his younger brother, Ram Pravesh Chaurasia, who works in Dubai. On Thursday morning, he called home and informed the family.The phone call shattered the household.The elder of two brothers, Shivanand had left home nearly six months ago to work aboard the Singapore-managed vessel. Like many Indian seafarers, he had set out with hopes of securing a better future for his family. Instead, his loved ones are now waiting for his mortal remains.Speaking to TOI, his father, Ramji Chaurasia, struggled to contain his grief. “He was a welder on the ship and had joined around six months ago. This was his first overseas assignment. We were informed about his death by my younger son, who works in Dubai,” he said.The loss has left a deep void in the family. Shivanand is survived by his parents, Ramji Chaurasia and Kalawati Devi, his wife Sushila, son Rajveer and daughter Vanika. The children are still unaware that the father who left home promising to return with gifts and stories from distant lands will never walk through their door again.As news of the tragedy spread, villagers and residents from nearby areas gathered at the Chaurasia home to offer condolences.Among them was local resident Vaibhav Sahi, who demanded that Shivanand’s body be brought back at the earliest. “The family deserves dignified closure,” he said.The deaths have sparked strong reactions in India, with the government lodging a protest over the strike and directing officials to facilitate the return of the rescued crew members as well as the mortal remains of those who died.