External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said the government will spare no effort to secure the release of Father Tom Unzhunnalil, the Catholic priest from Kerala who was kidnapped by the Islamic State group.
“I have seen the video from Father Tom. He is an Indian citizen and the life of every Indian is most precious for us,” Swaraj said. “We got Father Alex Prem Kumar and Judith D’Souza released from Afghanistan. We will spare no effort to secure Father Tom’s release from captivity,” she added.
In a video shared on Monday, Unzhunnalil was seen appealing to Pope Francis and the Indian government to secure his release. “If I were a European priest, I would have been taken more seriously. I am from India. I am perhaps not considered of much value,” he says in the video. He also alleged that neither the president nor the prime minister had taken any steps towards his release even after his abductors had contacted the Centre a number of times.
Unzhunnalil was abducted on March 4 during a raid on a nursing home in Yemen. At least 16 people had been killed in the incident.
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