New Delhi/Kolkata: An Indian aid worker who was kidnapped in Afghanistan last month reached New Delhi on Saturday after being rescued and was warmly welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Judith D’Souza was accompanied by Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra when she landed in New Delhi on Saturday evening.
“Welcome to India, Judith,” Modi tweeted after meeting her.
“Would like to thank the Govt. of Afghanistan, especially President @ashrafghani for their cooperation in bringing Judith home,” he added.
Soon after her arrival, Judith, wearing a light blue salwar kameez, went and met Sushma Swaraj who hugged her warmly. Both Ministers of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh and M.J. Akbar were also present. Sushma Swaraj, Singh and Akbar accompanied Judith when she went to meet the Prime Minister.
“Another safe homecoming! EAM and two MoSs meet Judith D’Souza in Delhi, after her release from captivity,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted along with pictures of Judith and the three ministers.
Hailing from Kolkata, Judith, 40, who works for the Aga Khan Network, was seized by gunmen on June 9 in the Qala-e-Fatullah area of Kabul while she was returning home after dinner at a friend’s place. Judith was working with the NGO as a senior technical adviser since July 2015.
On Saturday morning, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that Judith was rescued in Afghanistan.
Unlike June 10 when the news of Judith’s abduction in Afghanistan cast a pall of gloom over the D’Souza household in central Kolkata, Saturday morning, despite the rain-laden clouds, turned out to be a radiant one for Judith’s elderly parents and sister.
Disturbed at seeing large crowd at airport, Judith gives media a miss
Judith D’Souza, who landed in New Delhi on Saturday evening from Afghanistan, gave the media a miss at the airport as BJP leaders gathered there to receive her gave credit to the government for her rescue.
After flight A1 244 landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport around 5.50 p.m., Judith took at least one hour to come out of the airport. As she came out, she was perturbed on seeing the large crowd and ran back inside. She again emerged after 10 minutes only to board the car along with her brother and drove past the crowd.
Party MP Verma said, “We did not talk to her because of her condition. She was not allowed to talk to anyone or use the toilet during her captivity. She was even denied access to water and phone. She ate something after she met her brother in the airport.”
He said a doctor attended to Judith at the airport and her BP was found to be low. She was given medicines, Verma added.
