<p>Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who spent 18 months in the captivity of unknown militants in Yemen, believes the power of prayers for his return “softened the hearts” of his captors and made them set him free.<br /><br />The 59-year-old priest who was rescued from Yemen on September 12, returned to India on Thursday after spending some time recuperating in Vatican City.<br /><br />He was received in Bengaluru on Friday with a thanksgiving feast by the Don Bosco Bangalore province.<br /><br />Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, he said, “They did not harm me. I have thinned down not for lack of food but because of my diabetes. Even during Ramadan, they said, ‘We are fasting, but we will give you food on time’. That is the touch of God in their heart.”<br /><br />Fr Tom became a priest with the congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1990 and he had worked in Kolar, Hassan, Bhadravathi, and Bengaluru. He was serving in Yemen in 2016 when terrorists attacked a church and abducted him. <br /><br />Describing the last few days of his captivity, he said, “One night, one of my captors came to me and said that I would be going back to my home in Kerala. They asked me to change my clothes, wear a purdah on my face and led me to a car,” he narrated. The car drove for several hours before coming to a stop. However, Fr Tom was not to be freed that day as the arrangements were not ready. He has no idea how much time elapsed but late one night, he was again asked to get into a car. After driving for several hours, he was shifted to another car where a man lifted the purdah to verify his identity. “We drove for several more hours. Then early in the morning, I was told that we were in Oman and that is when I realised that I was truly free,” he said.<br /><br />Fr Tom said he did not know why he was abducted and he could not communicate much with his captors as they did not speak English and he did not speak Arabic.<br /><br />“I never cried and I was never shaken during my captivity. But when I landed in my homeland, I had tears in my eyes,” he said.<br /></p>
<p>Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who spent 18 months in the captivity of unknown militants in Yemen, believes the power of prayers for his return “softened the hearts” of his captors and made them set him free.<br /><br />The 59-year-old priest who was rescued from Yemen on September 12, returned to India on Thursday after spending some time recuperating in Vatican City.<br /><br />He was received in Bengaluru on Friday with a thanksgiving feast by the Don Bosco Bangalore province.<br /><br />Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, he said, “They did not harm me. I have thinned down not for lack of food but because of my diabetes. Even during Ramadan, they said, ‘We are fasting, but we will give you food on time’. That is the touch of God in their heart.”<br /><br />Fr Tom became a priest with the congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1990 and he had worked in Kolar, Hassan, Bhadravathi, and Bengaluru. He was serving in Yemen in 2016 when terrorists attacked a church and abducted him. <br /><br />Describing the last few days of his captivity, he said, “One night, one of my captors came to me and said that I would be going back to my home in Kerala. They asked me to change my clothes, wear a purdah on my face and led me to a car,” he narrated. The car drove for several hours before coming to a stop. However, Fr Tom was not to be freed that day as the arrangements were not ready. He has no idea how much time elapsed but late one night, he was again asked to get into a car. After driving for several hours, he was shifted to another car where a man lifted the purdah to verify his identity. “We drove for several more hours. Then early in the morning, I was told that we were in Oman and that is when I realised that I was truly free,” he said.<br /><br />Fr Tom said he did not know why he was abducted and he could not communicate much with his captors as they did not speak English and he did not speak Arabic.<br /><br />“I never cried and I was never shaken during my captivity. But when I landed in my homeland, I had tears in my eyes,” he said.<br /></p>
