By Jose Kavi

New Delhi, June 8, 2022: A Catholic priest says he has not overcome the trauma of kidnap and robbery even a week after the incident.

“I am alive today only because of God’s grace. I was afraid the gang would kill and bury me at a place that nobody would find out,” says Father Dominic Pulickapadavil, a member of the Society of Montfort Missionaries, who was kidnapped by an armed gang on June 1 near Madikkeri in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

The 60-year-old priest, on transfer from Mysore to the congregation’s only mission in Kerala, was going to his new place in Kasargod district in the car of his cousin Tomy Isaac, who lives in Mysore. “My cousin offered to drive me to the new place in his car. We had a pleasant journey to Madikkeri.”

However, when they were proceeding to Sulliya Road on the way to Kerala around 10:30 am, a gang of nine armed men overtook their car and blocked it. Masked men armed with gun and knives then broke the car’s windows and pulled the priest out.

The men, who spoke Tamil and Malayalam, snatched the priest’s mobile and laptop before pushing him into their car blindfolded. “I had no idea about my cousin. After a long distance, in a remote village, they brought my cousin by another car. We both were then taken together to some remote places and somebody brought our car to Hirisava,” Father Pulickapadavil told Matters India June 8.

He said the gang kept driving the vehicle until they reached Hiriseva around 9 pm. Since they did not find anything in the car, the gang decided to set them free. The two then walked two kilometers until they reached their car.

The priest found his mobile under the car’s back seat. “When I saw a police Jeep, I showed my hand and they took the first hand information and asked us to come to the station to register a complaint,” he narrated.

The policemen gave them water and tea. “We had nothing since our breakfast from a roadside restaurant at 8 am,” said Father Pulickapadavil who had a serious spinal cord surgery a few years ago. The priest, eighth among nine children, had recovered from a serious attack of Covid-19 two years ago.

The priest said he could not inform anyone about their ordeal until he recovered his phone. He said he was supposed to reach his new place – Montfort Nilayam at Thokkanammotta near Panayal around noon on June 1.

When he heard from the police about a Catholic church in nearby Kunigal he contacted Father Michael Menezes, a member of his congregation. Father Menezes came to the police station and took the two to the parish. On June 2, they returned to the police station around 9:30 am, to meet the officers and take them to where they had found the car and the kidnap spot.

Meanwhile, the priest’s provincial Father Peter Mascarenhas reached Hiriseva station. Father Pulickapadavil borrowed some money from his superior and went with the police to the two spots. The gang had taken some 40,000 rupees from the priest and his cousin.

The priest finally reached his new place at 10:30 pm on June 3.

He said he has been flooded with phone calls since then. He said both he and his cousin still dread to recall their ordeal.