Fifteen men, nationals of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, arrested by the Indian Navy for piracy, today sought leniency while recording their statements before the sessions court here.
They have already pleaded guilty.
"The court recorded their pleas under section 313 of Criminal Procedure Code," said special public prosecutor Ranjeet Sangle. Under section 313, an accused can explain (in person) any circumstances appearing in the evidence against him or her at the end of the trial.
All the accused told the court -- two of them speaking in Hindi which they have picked up during the incarceration while others through interpreter provided by Somali embassy -- that they had taken 22 Thai and Myanmarese nationals hostage on their 'mother ship' 'Prantalay 14' which was intercepted by the Indian Navy in the Arabian sea on January 28, 2011.
Before capturing them, the Navy fired warning shots and they returned the fire, the pirates told the court.
One of the accused said the gang comprised 25 persons, but ten of them drowned as they jumped into water after their vessel caught fire due to Navy's firing.
"Ten tairna nahin aata tha, pani mein mar gaya....Pura jahaj pe aag lag gaya," (Ten who could not swim drowned... whole ship was on fire), said Bon Jhon Ali, a Kenyan.
The accused accepted that statements of prosecution witnesses against them were correct.
They pleaded for mercy, saying they were in jail since 2011 and had already suffered enough punishment.
Last year the accused had pleaded guilty. The court however only took their statements on record without passing any order.
"Macchi khane ka aadat hai, jail mein macchi nahi milta, ....Yahanpe jail ka khana hamko pasand nahin (I am used to eating fish, no fish is served in jail...We don't like the food in jail)," Ali said, seeking court's leniency. He wanted to meet his family, he added.
Rage Rissaq Abdile, an Ethiopian who sustained bullet injury during the Navy operation, said he was not well.
"Mein bimarwala hai, bahut taklif hai, family ka saat saal se malum nahin, family paisa manage kiya malum nahin (I am unwell, in a lot of pain, hasn't heard from family for seven years, do not know how the family is managing (to earn) money)," Abdile said. He signed off saying "Jai Hind".
A total of 120 pirates were caught by Navy and Coast Guard between January and March 2011 and charged under sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. One of them died during the trial.
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