Fr Tom Uzhunnalil narrated the tale of violence on March 4 when the terrorists stormed the old-age home run by the Missionaries of Charity.Vatican City: Father Tom Uzhunnalil, the Salesian priest who was kidnapped by terrorists from a charity home in Aden and spent more than a year in captivity before being released recently, said the attackers killed four nuns of the orphanage in his presence.
Narrating the tale of violence on the night of March 4 when the armed terrorists stormed the old-age home run by the Missionaries of Charity, Fr Tom revealed that the militants shot the nuns one by one after forcing him to sit in the security’s cabin near the main entrance of orphanage.
Scenes of blood and horror
“The incident took place around 8.45 am on March 4, 2016. I heard gunshots when I came out of the chapel after offering morning prayers. The head of the gang barged into my room and grabbed my hand. When I identified myself as an Indian he forcibly took me to the security’s cabin adjacent to the main entrance of the building and asked me to sit there. The five nuns were attending to the inmates at the orphanage. The militants took two of them near the gate and returned before bringing two others to the same spot. Though they searched inside the building for the fifth nun, they came back after failing to find her. Two of the nuns were asked to move a bit, so that I don’t see them, before gunning them down. After killing them, the gang leader brought the other two near the security’s cabin and shot them right in front of my eyes. I did not cry as the idea of dying did not scare me. All the while I turned to God in prayer so intensely,” Fr Tom said describing scenes of blood and horror during the dreaded attack.
“After some time, the gang took me out and dragged me into the boot of a car parked on the premises. They also throw the Holy Communion into the boot before driving away to an undisclosed location. I did nothing other than praying night and day whenever I was awake. I offered up Holy Mass without the Holy Bible, prayer booklet or the Holy Eucharist.”
“They had already told me that they would take a video of mine to demand a ransom. I had no other option than obeying them. They shouted and feigned firing at me, although I was never physically harmed. They were hoping to hope to earn ransom money quickly by posting the video online,” Fr Tom added.
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