After Over a Year in Captivity, Father Tom Uzhunnalil Gets Released

Tom Uzhunnail, the priest from Kottayam, Kerala, who was abducted by Yemeni militants from a charity home in Aden was released on Sept. 12,  External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced on Twitter.

“I am happy to inform that Father Tom Uzhunnalil has been rescued,” Swaraj posted, adding that Father Tom had reached Vatican. The ministry did not add any further details about the priest’s condition or release.

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, however, said to reporters that Father Tom Uzhannalil’s release was secured through ‘quiet’ diplomatic efforts of India. “The MEA works quietly without making noise and gets things done,” he was quoted as saying by the Deccan Chronicle. “We adopt diplomatic methods. When direct methods do not work, we may go for indirect ones.”

No ransom was paid, he added.

Photo Credit: Sushma Swaraj/ Twitter

Priest Tom spent over a year in captivity. He was abducted in March 2016 by four gunmen posing as relatives of one of the residents of a Missionaries of Charity home in Aden. They attacked the charity home, killed four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard.

Father Tom was with the Salesian Congregation (The Society of Don Bosco). He was said to have volunteered to serve at the home after the outbreak of violence in Yemen, in which thousands of Indians were evacuated.

His abductors had sent out two videos that showed the priest pleading for his life. It lead to speculations that they were mercenaries looking for ransom. The case gained more spotlight this March when reports emerged that he taken captive by the Islamic State group.

In April this year, his abductors released another video where he made a plea, reaching out to Pope Francis at the Vatican. “My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible,” he said in the video.

Swaraj met Abdulmalik Abduljalil Al-Mekhlafi, the Deputy Prime Minister of Yemen, in New Delhi in July this year, when he confirmed that Father Tom was alive and that the Yemen Government was making all efforts to secure his release.

His release was secured with “Omani help”, according to a statement by the Oman government that said the priest was recovering in Muscat after being rescued. They also released photographs of the rescued priest.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swaraj for “persistently and perseveringly” trying to obtain his release.

Swaraj wrote on her Twitter account that Father Tom spoke to her from Vatican, adding that he thanked the Indian government for their efforts.