Shivam was born on the airforce campus of Gujarat. Since the beginning, my father who is working in the Indian Airforce for 32 years; taught us 3 principles; kindness, honesty, and integrity. 

He was the jolliest and most kind-hearted person, always there for his friends, family, and even for stray animals. Being from a middle-class family Shivam wanted to study hard and give his parents everything in the world.

In 2014, he joined the merchant navy via Anglo-Eastern Ship Management Company. He was working for 6 years with this company. 

He boarded his Ship Shandong Zihe on 29th August 2021. He was in constant touch with the family through calls and messages. On 30th September he texted my father that he will call him when he’ll reach Gibraltar port. He had even taken some cash to do shopping on Gibraltar port. But that never happened. 

Shivam Malik was declared dead on 1st October 2021 but we were informed on 2nd October after 14 hours approx. On 2nd October we got a call around 3 PM LT that he was found hanging in the bow thruster room. As per the timeline of the incident which is shared by the company; he was declared dead at 8 PM and they kept him in the fish freezer at 11 PM then what they were doing with his body for two hours? The temperature of the fish room can go up to -10 degrees then why was he kept at 4 degrees?

The company was already aware of the protocols and they knew that the ship will take 2-3 days to reach the shore why the local authorities and agents were not informed in advance? This wasted 2 days in the repatriation process.

In the entire UK or London, there was no other doctor available for postmortem other than Mr.Brett Lockyer? Why the company did not request another doctor? This wasted 5 days in the repatriation process.

We asked for proof that Shivam was found hanging which they didn’t send us for 6 days. On 6th October an official came to our house with 4 pictures in a pen drive. Out of these 4 pictures, in 2 pictures the face of Shivam was not visible and the other 2 looked like a demo session of CPR. 

The company took no efforts in contacting the Ministry of External Affairs to expedite the process, we used our contacts to get in touch with MEA and request them for the same. MEA opened its office on closed holidays so that the process of documentation can be completed quickly. The entire documentation process was completed on 15th October still the flight was booked for 21st October late at night, which wasted 6 days in the repatriation process.

In total 13 days were wasted in the entire process.

We were getting threats repeatedly that if we keep asking for updates from the agents then the process will get more delayed.  

We specifically asked for Videography and Photography of post mortem that happened in Gibraltar UK. We asked for his last wearing clothes. To which company replied “ they have destroyed the last wearing clothes and no videography or photography happened at the Post mortem”.

As per WHO’s guideline last wearing clothes can not be destroyed by any police or doctor in any case.

On 23rd October when Shivam’s mortal remains arrived in India they lost Shivam’s passport and original documents. We have not received his phones (iPhone 12 pro and Samsung), laptop, personal diary, and documents file. In his luggage also clothes are missing, they have kept an empty notebook instead of his personal diary.

The postmortem that took place in India on 23rd October revealed that the cause of death in Shivam’s case is Asphyxia and Ante Mortem Strangulation. There was a fracture on his hyoid cartilage (Google this you will find " It is commonly associated with strangulation and rarely occurs in isolation.") and injuries on his nose and face.

This company has a long history of vanishing officers onboard, medical negligence, and hiding facts of the death onboard. Shivam was closest to me, he was my Best friend we have shared everything about each other. There was no reason for suicide. He was happy and focused on his life, he was the only son of my parents and favorite kid of each family member. There was no financial, economic, or any kind of pressure on him. We are a well-settled family.

We are trying to get in touch with our Shipping Ministry, Maritime Union of India, and our local police but nobody is helping us. Please Please Please help us in this fight for justice.