The family members of a 32-year-old techie Irfan Jaffrey, who was kidnapped three months back by gunmen at Darfur in Sudan, today said they are feeling abandoned in this crisis and are ready to pay ransom demanded by the abductors.
"We are ready to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. For me, my husband is everything. The no-ransom policies of the United Nations and Indian government are killing us...My husband is in deep trouble. We are feeling abandoned in this crisis. Why there is no one to help us?" a tearful Nafisa Jaffrey (30), wife of Irfan, told PTI.
"I beg External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to feel our pain and anguish and help me get back my husband," pleaded Nafisa in a choked voice, holding her 7-year-old son's hand.
Nafisa stays in Dombivali in neighbouring Thane district. Her husband Irfan, employed as IT engineer by Trigyn Technologies Ltd since past five years, used to visit home twice in a year.
The multi-national IT firm provides services of information and communications technology-related work at United Nations missions across the globe, so the UN is involved in negotiations with the abductors.
The UN has a policy of not paying ransom.
On March 11, a group of five armed gunmen allegedly abducted Irfan from outside a Turkish restaurant. Since then he has been kept hostage in a tribal area of Darfur.
Recalling the incident, Irfan's uncle Shakeel Ahmed said, "We had received a phone call on March 12 afternoon from the IT company stating that Irfan was kidnapped, the news which shattered our entire family.
