KERALA PRIEST ABDUCTED BY IS PLEADS FOR HELP IN NEW VIDEO
Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, a Catholic priest abducted from an old people’s home in Yemen by the Islamic State in 2016, has made an emotional appeal to the Indian government to step up efforts for his release in a video posted by a Yemeni news website.
The video, lasting less than two minutes, shows a frail-looking Uzhunnalil with a long white beard. A small piece of cardboard on his lap shows the numerals “15-4-2017”, suggesting the video was shot on April 15.
Uzhunnalil, 58, complains that the response to his abductors’ demands from the Indian government and the Bishop of Abu Dhabi has been “very, very poor” and “not encouraging”. He does not name his abductors though officials have acknowledged in the past that he was kidnapped by the Islamic State.
“They (the kidnappers) are treating me well to the extent that they are able. My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible,” he says, speaking slowly in English.
Uzhunnalil suggests the abductors have contacted the Indian government “several times” and that he has seen the response from the authorities. “It is a poor response and I’m sad about that,” he says in the video carried by Aden Time website. Uzhunnalil was abducted in March 2016 . In the past too, he has expressed his unhappiness at efforts to free him .
Uzhunnalil belongs to Ramapuram village in Kerala’s Kottayam district. The Indian government has said in the past that it was in touch with Yemen and Saudi Arabia regarding the safe release of Uzhunnalil.
Aden’s minority Christian community have largely fled what used to be a cosmopolitan seaport before it became a conflict zone.