Top Afghan psychiatrist killed even after family paid over Rs 2.6 crore ransom to kidnappers

One of Afghanistan’s most prominent psychiatrists, who was abducted by armed men in September, has been found dead, The Guardian reported.

Nader Alemi’s daughter, Manizheh Abreen, said that her father had been tortured before he died.

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

Alemi, 66, who opened the country’s first private psychiatric hospital, was abducted in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, after his car was stopped as he was being driven home from work, the report said.

He had received threatening calls and messages in the months before his abduction.

The kidnappers originally demanded a ransom of $800,000, the report said.

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,” as per the report.

Abreen said her father’s body showed clear signs of torture.

Alemi was a prominent figure in Mazar-i-Sharif, where he opened his hospital. He was believed to be the only Pashto-speaking psychiatrist in northern Afghanistan, and his patients had included Taliban fighters, the report added.