At Devakottai in Sivaganga district, the family of the Catholic priest Alexis Prem Kumar spends its days in prayers for his release from the custody of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, the priest’s father, A.S.M. Anthony, 77, and other family members sang hymns with folded hands, while priests from the Madurai Jesuit Province prayed to God for the safe release of their colleague and consoled the distraught family members.
“I will never leave you nor forsake you,” reads a verse from the Bible (Hebrew 13:5) at the entrance of Mr. Anthony’s house at Ram Nagar. A stream of well-wishers from his village of Variyanvayal, church members and members of political parties visited the house, sharing their concern. In Kodaikanal and Dindigul, where the Jesuit priest had worked, Dalit organisations joined in the prayers.
Mr. Anthony, a retired teacher, anxiously awaited official word on the whereabouts of his son. “It has been an agonising wait since Monday as the abductors have not revealed their identity and made public their demand for the government authorities to act,” Mr. Anthony said. “Some people are saying the Afghan authorities have sighted my son, but I have not received any official word.”
Former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram and local BJP and DMK leaders were among those who pacified Mr. Anthony. Mr. Chidambaran told him over the phone that he had spoken to Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to take steps to secure the safe release of his son.
Mr. Anthony’s wife, Maria Thangam, died in February 2013. He now lives with his second son, Albert Manoharan, a teacher at Ram Nagar.
