Kulbhushan Jadhav Tutored, Wouldn't Speak In Marathi: Chilling Reunion

New Delhi: As he met his family for the first time since his arrest and death sentence in Pakistan, Kulbhushan Jadhav "parroted Pakistani propaganda" and kept saying he was a spy, according to Indian officials.

Chilling details have emerged of the 40-minute meeting between Mr Jadhav and his mother and wife in Islamabad on Monday. The meeting across a glass screen and through intercom, tightly controlled by Pakistani officials, has left the family "horrified and depressed", according to relatives.

Sources say Mr Jadhav kept speaking in English and Hindi and repeating that he was a spy operating in Balochistan and involved in terror activities - allegations by Pakistan that India has strongly refuted. His mother Avanti Jadhav and wife Chetankul kept trying to speak to him in Marathi but he wouldn't reciprocate, sources say.

"But why are you saying all this," Mr Jadhav's mother reportedly said, refusing to accept the way her son was speaking to her. When she spoke in Marathi, she was repeatedly interrupted by Pakistani officials.

It was as if Mr Jadhav was programmed to stick to a script and repeat whatever Pakistan has charged him with, the family has reportedly told Indian officials.

Avanti and Chetankul Jadhav were forced to change and take off their mangal-sutra, bindi and bangles for the meeting. Chetankul Jadhav's shoes were not returned by Pakistan, which claims there was "something metallic" in them and they are being examined by forensic experts.

In a statement in parliament, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said Mr Jadhav was forced to see his mother and wife in the form of "widows". 

According to the minister "Avanti Jadhav choked up as she told me the first question her son asked was - how is Baba (father)? Because looking at me like this, he feared something bad had happened."

After the meeting, the family was forced to wait for their car outside the Pakistan Foreign Office, which left them wide open for harassment by the Pakistani media. They were bombarded  with questions like - "Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (Your husband killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis, what do you have to say about that?)'" and "Aapke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad? (How do you feel after meeting your killer son?)".