Indian priest Tom Unzhunnalil crucified by ISIS on Good Friday: Report

Written By DNA Web Team | Updated: Mar 28, 2016, 12:10 PM IST

A report claims that his execution was confirmed by Cardinal Schonborn of Vienna.

According to a report in Washington Times, Thomas Uzhunnalil, an Indian priest who was kidnapped in Yemen in March was crucified by ISIS  on Good Friday. His execution was done in the same method that Romans were believed to use on Jesus on Good Friday. The report claims that his execution was confirmed  at the Easter Vigil Mass by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna.

Earlier, the Indian government had confirmed the capture of Father Tom Uzhunnalil, the Indian priest from Bangalore, who was kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Yemen and said that efforts were underway to ensure that he is released. "Fr Tom Uzhunnallil - an Indian national from Kerala was abducted by a terror group in Yemen. We r making all efforts to secure his release," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. Her reaction comes after a growing alarm among the Christian community following an ominous report by the terror outfit to crucify him around Easter

Tom Unzhunnalil was kidnapped from the Missionaries of Charity’s home for the elderly in Aden where he serves as a chaplain on March 4. A spokesman for the Bangalore province of the Salesians was quoted saying that no group has taken any responsibility yet. A post on the group’s South Africa page has been taken down. Earlier, the Yemen authorities blamed ISIL for the attack on March 4. The External Affairs Ministry had said only one Indian nurse was killed in the terrorist attack in strife-torn Yemen's Aden city.

16 people were killed in Aden when a group of terrorists stormed an elderly care home run by a Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charity and sprayed bullets at the residents. There are around 80 residents living at the home, which is run by Missionaries of Charity, an organisation established by Mother Teresa.

Missionaries of Charity nuns also came under attack in Yemen in 1998 when gunmen killed three nuns in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.