Judith D'Souza, an Aga Khan Foundation employee working in Kabul, Afghanistan, who was abducted on June 9, has been rescued, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Saturday. Judith was abducted along with several others from outside their office.
Swaraj thanked the Afghanistan government their "help and support in rescuing" Judith. She also commended the Indian envoy to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra in rescuing the 40-year-old aid worker.
"Judith D'Souza is with us - safe and in good spirits. She will reach her Motherland at the earliest. Vande Mataram," Swaraj tweeted.
"I have spoken to Judith. She is reaching Delhi this evening. Ambassador @VohraManpreet is accompanying her," she added.
Judith was a senior technical adviser with the Aga Khan Foundation in Afghanistan. She was abducted along with a driver and security guard. She hails from Kolkata and was supposed to return to her home state for her annual holidays three days from when she was abducted.
"But this wasn't her first time in Kabul. She had worked and lived there before and this was her second stint. She told us she liked living there. She told us there was never a security threat. Then, at 1.30 last night, we got a call from the Indian ambassador. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called us today and said that she was doing whatever she could to bring her back. All we want is our daughter back," Gloria, Judith's mother, had said in June, according to the Indian Express.
She had also worked in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius and Nepal. She was a gender specialist in Kabul, but had also worked on issues like child rights and climate change.
"We are very grateful to the Indian governemnt,"Judith's sister said on Saturday.
The diplomat being credited for Judith's rescue, Manpreet Vohra, is from the 1988 Indian Foreign Service batch. He was appointed as the Ambassador of India to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in November 2015. He was a Joint Secretary in the MEA earlier.
