After Kerala nurses' return, Punjab families pray for safe return of abducted sons

Even as the 46 Indian nurses from Iraq reached Kochi, Kerala, families in Punjab are still praying for the safe return of their sons, who were abducted by militants in Iraq. At least 40 Indian construction workers are in the custody of ISIS militants in Mosul.

Jeetu's son, Sonu, is among the 40 Indians abducted in Iraq. Sonu, who has two kids, aged eight and two years, had gone to Iraq six months ago to work as a construction worker in Mosul.

A tearful Jeetu told ANI, "I hope our sons also return like the nurses. My son is stuck there. We feel that the way the nurses have returned, in the same manner, the sons of all the mothers must return back. We are in really troubled times. My husband is not alive."

Kashmir Kaur's son, Dharmendra Singh, is also stuck in Iraq. Kaur last spoke to him on June 15 after which he has been untraceable.

She told ANI, "We just want that our sons return back to us in the same manner as the nurses have returned. We want that they return to us in 15 days, a month or even two months but they should come back. If they are healthy and live here in alright conditions, they would earn the money here. What would we do with the money if our kids are not here? They are married and my son has a small kid as well."

She also said, "My son went from here after a lot of effort and after taking a loan of Rs 2 lakh and it has been 5-6 months since he has been there. Until now even half of the loan is not returned and a crisis has emerged there so they should return back.