Dead body of abducted Afghan psychiatrist sent to his family

Abducted Afghan psychiatrist has been missing for weeks

The dead body of an abducted Afghan psychiatrist has been sent to his family after they paid a ransom for him to be returned alive. Dr Nader Alemi was taken by armed men in September as he was being driven home from work. Hi daughter, Manizheh Abreen, said her father’s body showed clear signs of torture. 

“Yesterday we have paid $350,000 to the abductors and they promised to release my father today. But this morning we have received his dead body instead.”

Alemi, 66, opened the country’s first private psychiatric hospital. He was abducted in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif after he had received threatening calls and messages in the months before he was taken. The ransom demanded was originally $800,000. Abreen said: “They told us to sell our house and hospital and we bargained with them and pleaded that no one will buy property in this situation. They weren’t listening. We collected money from our friends and family and sold the cars and jewellery we had. We could only afford this much [$350,000]. Our father was old, plus he was suffering from diabetes, but those brutal people didn’t pay heed.”

Dr Khan Murad Muradi, one of the doctors in the hospital of the abducted Afghan psychiatrist, said he was a “kind-hearted man”. He continued: “No one feels safe here in Mazar-i-Sharif.”

An Afghan human rights activist, who declined to be named for security reasons, said: “The abductors and killers should be held accountable and the Taliban should provide security to the people of Afghanistan.”

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