New Delhi: The death of a 33-year-old Indian seafarer in Venezuela, initially attributed to cardiac arrest, has taken a disturbing turn. Following the repatriation of his remains, the family of Rakesh Chauhan alleged that almost all of his major internal organs, including his brain, heart and lungs, were completely missing. The alarming revelation has prompted the Federation of Seafarers' Unions of India (FSUI) to demand a rigorous investigation into the incident.

According to a social media post by the FSUI on X, Chauhan's remains were returned to his hometown in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, without an accompanying autopsy report or any procedural details from Venezuelan authorities.

The union highlighted the gruesome findings of a second post-mortem conducted upon the body's return to India, stating that the local medical report revealed a "horrifying truth" where not a single major organ was found in the cavity. The missing anatomy spanned from the brain, heart and lungs to the liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, stomach, intestines, thyroid and larynx. The union also noted that the body bore extensive prior surgical stitching (22 stitches from the neck to the pubic symphysis and 21 stitches from ear to ear) but showed no signs of antemortem injuries, leaving the official cause of death undetermined due to the total absence of organs.

The FSUI strongly criticised the lack of transparency, arguing that Indian workers abroad are being treated as "scapegoats”. The body called for immediate intervention by the Indian Embassy in Venezuela, demanding accountability, a complete foreign autopsy report and proper compensation for the grieving family.
 

Sequence of events leading to the discovery

Chauhan, a resident of Lagda Bazar Tola in Deoria, had travelled to Venezuela in November 2025 to work aboard a merchant navy vessel managed by a company named Xfinity.

The family stated that they were largely kept in the dark by the firm following the tragedy. NDTV quoted the sailor's father, Ram Dev Chauhan, as saying, "We were kept in the dark. An initial post-mortem had already been conducted, but a second one – ordered by the district magistrate – revealed that organs were missing from the body, and the cause of death could not be determined. We demand that the government take action against the company and conduct an investigation."

The family revealed that company officials initially informed them by phone that Chauhan had sustained severe injuries from a fall on the ship and was undergoing treatment. The following morning, they were told there was a 95 per cent chance he would not survive, and by that evening, his death was confirmed. While the company blamed the fatal outcome on injuries from the fall and promised the body would return within a week, the remains ultimately took nearly a month to reach Deoria, arriving on June 4.
 

Indian autopsy confirms empty cavities

Upon arrival in Deoria, a local medical team initially refused to perform an autopsy because the body clearly showed signs of a prior post-mortem. They required an official directive to proceed. Following an explicit order from the District Magistrate, a second autopsy was executed, confirming the complete extraction of Chauhan's internal systems.

The official Indian post-mortem report meticulously detailed the physical state of the remains, noting 60cm of stitching down the torso and a 20cm stitched incision running across the back of the head from ear to ear. The report explicitly documented that the cranium, spinal cord area, meninges, vessels, respiratory tract, digestive tract and circulatory organs were entirely absent from the body.

While it is standard global forensic practice to temporarily remove internal organs like the heart, liver or kidneys for toxicological and histopathological testing during a primary autopsy, the situation has sparked intense suspicion because neither the Venezuelan government nor the employer provided an official autopsy file, a toxicology report, or a transparent account of the circumstances surrounding the sailor's demise.