The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports on the case of a Filipino crew member who alleges that her supervisor raped her while she was working on board the MV Costa Classica last year.
The victim worked as a security guard on the cruise ship. She alleges that she was summoned to the security office on the cruise ship where she observed two security officers drinking alcohol. The men are of Indian nationality: Joseph Chacko (Chief Security Officer) and Anoop Palatty (Assistant Security Officer).
The crew member claims that Palatty made indecent advances, but she left the office and continued with her security patrol. Later that night, she was summoned again, this time to Chacko’s cabin, where she went believing it was official business. She claims that the two officers were still drinking when she arrived at the cabin.
According to the crew member, Chacko then allegedly sexually abused her as soon as Palatty left the cabin. The victim alleges that she tried to resist but she was overpowered.
She reported the incident to the ship’s captain, Italian Pierre Paulo Gallastroni, who told her to make a statement. She also reported the alleged crime to the Philippine consulate in Hong Kong where she was medically and physically examined.
The newspaper article states that the two security officers disembarked in Hong Kong and escaped before the police police could begin their investigation.
This case illustrates a problem in the cruise industry we have seen over the years. When crew members commit crimes, there is a conflict of interest in having shipboard security being involved in the ship’s investigation. The problem is really bad when a security guard or security officer commits a crime. Security personnel are suppose to provide law and order on cruise ships. But cases like this illustrate the need for laws requiring independent police officers to be present on all cruise ships.
Two weeks ago we wrote about a 34 year old waiter sexually molesting an 11 year old girl on the Disney Dream while the cruise ship was at a port in Florida. But Disney Cruise Line refused to report the crime to either the local police or the FBI and then sailed to the Bahamas where it knew that the police would not do anything. Disney flew the waiter back to India rather than return him to the U.S. where he would have been arrested and prosecuted.
A trial involving the Costa case is scheduled to begin in Genoa, Italy on June 18th. Costa has some explaining to do, like why didn’t the company apprehend the security officer? Why did the cruise line permit him to leave the ship? Who paid for the two men to fly back to India?
Photo Credit: Wikimedia / 663highland