Kidnapped Boy Nayati Moodliar Found Alive In Malaysia, Ransom Paid By Family For Safe Return

Nayati Moodliar, a 12-year-old Dutch boy with Indian origin, was found alive and returned safely to his family after being kidnapped from a posh area in Malaysia nearly a week ago.

Moodliar was walking to his Mont Kiara International School near Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur last Friday when he was kidnapped by two men in a black vehicle, reported the AFP. He was last seen wearing green shorts and a white t-shirt with the MKIS emblem on it.

He was found near a township north of Kuala Lumpur by his family after he called them using a mobile phone left by his kidnappers.

Investigators made several attempts at negotiating a ransom for Moodliar. Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohmad Salleh confirmed the family did in fact pay a ransom, but neglected to say how much it was.

The family decided to pay the ransom. The demand was made immediately after the kidnapping. Police are still investigating the case under the Kidnapping Act, and if found guilty, the suspects will receive the death sentence, he said at a press conference, according to the Malaysian Insider.

He refused to go into details about the investigation and would neither confirm nor deny if any arrests had been made.

The family wrote about the good news on the Facebook page they had set up to find their son.

We are delighted to tell you that Nayati is back home with us and although it has obviously been a very traumatic time for him he appears at this stage to be in good shape. We cannot begin to say how proud we are of him and the way that he has coped with the events of the past week, they wrote on the Facebook page.

They thanked the support the received from people in countries as far away as Zambia and the USA.

People took to Twitter to help find the missing boy. The hash tag #FindNayatiMoodliar helped get the word out about his kidnapping. More than 20, 000 people expressed their support on the family's Facebook page entitled 'Please Help Us To Find Nayati Moodliar.'

Even Prime Minister Najib Razak urged the boy's kidnappers to free him via Twitter.

I appeal as a father for Nayati not to be harmed in any way, he wrote on the social networking site.

A Malaysian businessman in conjunction with a Malaysian news company offered to reward 60,000 ringgit ($20,000) for information about Moodliar's kidnapping, reported the Times Live.

Moodliar's aunt, Caroline Swanepoel, told iOL News that he was hungry and tired. He was undergoing tests at a hospital for a routine checkup.

Moodliar is half Caucasian and half Indian. He holds dual Ditch and South African nationality.

The South African international relations department released a statement saying they were revealed the boy was found.

The South African government extends its appreciation to the government of Malaysia for its role in bringing about the release of the child, it said in a statement according to the iOL News.

The family did not reveal any details about the kidnapping because of its ongoing investigation.

As we are sure you will understand, Nayati's kidnapping is the subject of an ongoing investigation so we are unfortunately not at liberty to reveal any of the details of the case at this stage, said the Moodliar family in a press release.

The family urged people to post pictures and videos they made about Moodliar's kidnapping while he was away on their Facebook page. The family wrote that Nayati wants to see all the love/wishes/prayers that you made for him so that he can thank everyone when he can.