Goila Butter Chicken Co-Owner's Mother Dies By Suicide, Jumped From A Cruise In Singapore Strait

A 64-year-old Indian woman and mother of Goila Butter Chicken Restaurant's co-owner Vivek Sahani, passed away after allegedly leaping from the Royal Caribbean Cruise while it was navigating the Singapore Strait. Her son had earlier sought an assistance from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Ministry of External Affairs, as he believed that the cruise company was avoiding responsibility in locating his mother. Vivek Sahani along with chef Saransh Goila runs the hugely successful Goila Butter Chicken restaurant.

In an update, Sahani revealed that his mother had passed away. After persistent efforts, the cruise liner finally shared the surveillance footage, and authorities have initiated a search to find the body. Sahani expressed his gratitude to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and the Indian Embassy in Singapore for their valuable assistance during this difficult time.

The Indian High Commission is actively in communication with the family and maintaining close contact with Singaporean authorities to handle the relevant matters and assist with legal procedures. Additionally, they have reached out to the India head of the Royal Caribbean Cruise, offering full cooperation in the situation.

Earlier, he stated that the ship's crew informed him that his mother, Reetha Sahani, had jumped off the 'Spectrum of the Seas' cruise ship while it was en route to Singapore, as per a report by Strait Times. He claimed that the crew had not provided any surveillance footage to confirm the incident and had not conducted a rescue operation to locate his mother. Additionally, they off-boarded his father, Jakesh Sahani, from the ship. Sahani expressed that they were still uncertain about his mother's whereabouts and believed she might still be on the ship, possibly trapped somewhere.

According to Sahani's account to the Strait Times, they had requested to see the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, but they had not received it yet to verify if the woman who jumped was indeed his mother. He shared his concerns about his mother's inability to swim and mentioned that his father had been questioned by the police for hours in relation to the incident.

As per the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the "passenger fell into the Singapore Strait." In response, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) is leading the search efforts and has issued a navigational safety broadcast to all vessels in the Singapore Strait and port, requesting them to be vigilant for the missing person and promptly report any sightings to the MRCC.