The wife of 32-year-old techie, Irfan Jaffery, who was kidnapped four months ago by armed gunmen in Darfur, Sudan, is pinning her hopes on the new External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
“With folded hands I just want to make one request to her: Please get my husband back. She is a woman, she will understand,” said a tearful Nafisa Jaffrey. “He has lost around 40 kgs already. The company is not helping us. The government and the embassy are our only hope,” she said.
The couple has a seven-year-old son and lives in the suburb of Dombivali.
Mr. Irfan works with Trigyn Technologies Ltd, a multinational IT firm, which provides services to the United Nations.
On March 11, a group of five armed gunmen allegedly abducted him from outside a Turkish restaurant. Since then he has been kept hostage in Darfur.
“He was dining with a friend who was robbed and let off. But they kidnapped Irfan. The next day they called his firm and demanded a ransom of Rs. 32 lakh,” Shakeel Ahmed, Mr. Irfan’s uncle said.
In April, Mr. Ahmed said, the company advised them not to contact Mr. Irfan. They were following the advice of a UN team, which claimed hostages were usually released when families lost contact with them. Trigyn Technologies was not available for comment.
Last week, Ms. Nafisa’s patience wore off and she contacted her husband through his abductors. “He cried like a child. It was heart-breaking,” said Ms. Nafisa.
“The company and the government should have paid the ransom and got my husband back. Now I have managed to raise the amount. But the UN’s no-ransom policy prevents me from sending it,” Ms. Nafisa said.
When contacted, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Syed Akbaruddin said, “We are in touch with the family, the company, the UN and everyone concerned. We want Mr. Irfan to return safely to India.”
