Militants release Indian priest abducted in Yemen
A Roman Catholic priest who was kidnapped by militants from an old people’s home in Yemen has been rescued after 18 months after Oman secured his freedom.
The release of Father Tom Uzhannalil, an Indian priest from Ramapuram in Kerala, south India, was announced yesterday by India’s external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj.
Father Uzhunnalil had been the chaplain for more than four years at the home, which was established by Mother Teresa’s religious order, the Missionaries of Charity, in the port city of Aden on Yemen’s south coast.
In March last year, militants entered the old people’s home posing as relatives of one of the residents. They killed 16 people, including four nuns, and destroyed the chapel and the old people’s home. There were about 80 residents at the time of the attack.
In a video on a website in May, Father Uzhunnalil pleaded for help. Speaking slowly in English, he said: “They are treating me well to the extent they are able.”
He said that his health was deteriorating quickly and that he required hospital treatment as soon as possible.
“My dear family, do what you can to help me be released.”
The date, April 15, 2017, was written on a piece of cardboard stuck to his body.
The priest said his kidnappers had contacted the Indian government and the Roman Catholic bishop in Abu Dhabi with their demands.
Muscat said Omani authorities had “co-ordinated with Yemeni parties” to free Father Uzhunnalil at the request of Sultan Qaboos.
The priest, who is in his mid50s, yesterday wore local traditional dress and had a flowing but tidy white beard. He disembarked from an Omani air force plane unaided but struggled down the steps to the tarmac.
Father Uzhunnalil appeared relatively healthy as he stood before a portrait of Oman’s Sultan Qaboos, whom he thanked – after thanking God – for his release.
“Our prayers were finally heard. We thank all who stood with us in these trying times,” said the priest’s older brother, Mathew.
Nuns from the Missionaries of Charity also came under attack in Yemen in 1998, when gunmen killed three of them in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.
Our prayers were finally heard. We thank all who stood with us in these trying times MATHEW UZHANNALIL Brother of the kidnapped priest