India grants Italian marine 6 more months at home

New Delhi

India's top court today granted an Italian marine detained over the 2012 killing of two fishermen off the coast of Kerala another six months at home to recover from a medical condition.

Massimiliano Lattore and his fellow marine Salvatore Girone shot the fishermen while serving as part of an anti-piracy mission off southern India in 2012.

The incident led to a diplomatic row between Italy and India with both marines barred from leaving India pending trial.

Lattore was finally allowed to travel back to his country last year for what Italian media reports described as a minor procedure to correct a congenital heart disease.

In April this year, he had sought and received a three-month stay from returning to India.

The Supreme Court on Monday granted him six more months in Italy for recovery while accepting his fresh application for an extension of the stay on his return order.

The other marine, Girone, is living at Italy's embassy in New Delhi.

The trial against both marines remains pending at a special court in New Delhi over confusion which agency would investigate their case. It had not opened the case when the pair was in India.