For 14 years, Patnala Suresh served in the merchant navy. Most recently, he was working as chief engineer aboard the commercial oil tanker MT Settebello. To his sons, he was a man who braved storms and rough seas to keep global trade moving.

Suresh was among three Indian crew members killed when the US military struck the MT Settebello in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on 10 June. American authorities later said the tanker had failed to comply with repeated instructions issued by US forces.

Bhargavi rejects that justification.

“My husband was not a soldier,” she tells MEE. “They could have stopped or detained the ship if they wanted to. Why fire a missile at a vessel carrying civilians?”

Calling the strike unjustified, she said the United States should be held accountable for what she described as a violation of international law.