Social media is buzzing with rumors that Father Tom Uzhunnalil will be crucified by jihadi kidnappers on Good Friday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar.
Just yesterday the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen, based in South Africa, warned on Facebook of the priest’s imminent demise.
Father Uzhunnalil is a member of the Salesian order who was kidnapped by Islamic radicals in Yemen on March 4 during an assault on an old-folks home that saw 16 people murdered including four nuns.
Rumors persist the priest is being tortured and that he will be crucified this Friday on the day that Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified and died setting up his bodily resurrection on Easter Sunday.
A spokesman for the Salesians in Bangalore, India has said, “We have absolutely no information.” He said the Order doesn’t even have information on the group that took the priest let alone their intentions. “…no one has claimed responsibility,” said Father Mathew Valarkot.
“These are all rumors. When no has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, how do we know other details,” he said.
Valarkot urged caution and patience, that his Order is in “constant touch” with the government and that an Indian Jesuit priest was released after nine months in captivity from jihadi radicals in Afghanistan.