ISIS forced me to watch videos, shot me thrice: AP doctor freed from Libya
New Delhi: Dr Ramamurthy Kosanam, the Andhra Pradesh doctor freed from Islamic State (IS) captivity in Libya, said on Sunday that the terrorist organisation forced the hostages to watch videos of what it did in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other places.
“ISIS people forced us to watch videos of what they did to Iraq, Syria, Nigeria & other places. It was bit difficult to watch them,” he said speaking to ANI.
He also said that ISIS recruits did not assault the hostages physically, but abused them verbally.
Ramamurthy said most of the ISIS terrorists were educated youth who knew about India.
"These ISIS people are well-educated youngsters and they do know about India and its development and how it has developed in education, economy and everything else. They are interested in India. But, I did understand that they wanted to spread the ideology of their nation to other parts of the world, including India," he said.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and others for helping him return to India, Ramamurthy said that ISIS tried to force him to conduct surgeries as he was a doctor.
“They used to force me to get into operation theatres, but I never did any surgery or stitches,” he said.
“During Ramadan in 2016, ISIS people approached me as they needed doctors at their hospitals. I refused as I was 61 at that time. I told them that I'm medically trained, not for surgery. But still they posted me at hospital in Sirte that was near sports club.”
The doctor said that while working at a camp in Sirte, he was shot three times by the terrorists. “With 10 days I got bullet injuries to my left hand and both legs,” he recalled, his left arm in a sling. He said he was in ICU for 3 weeks following the shooting.
Ramamurthy said that the hostages were taken to several underground jails in Libya, due to the continuous attacks by opposition forces.
“Libyan military forces from Misurata declared war on ISIS. Bombings and all scared them, so they kept moving prisoners,” Ramamurthy recounted.
The doctor also stated that Islamic State recruits taught the captives about Islam, about how to pray 5 times a day and clean up before prayers. “This went on for two months,” he recalled.
