PABNA, Bangladesh : Six alleged murderers have had charges against them dropped after the Catholic mother of the victim asked the court to dismiss the case, saying she had forgiven the men.

The court dropped the charges on Nov. 12 after Sumoti Costa, 47, from St. Rita's Church in the northwestern town of Pabna, entered her plea.

Local extortionists stabbed her son, Sujon, to death eight years ago in front of the church gate after he refused to hand them a large sum of money, Costa recalls.

Sujon, the eldest of three sons, was 22 when he died. He had just returned from his job in the Middle East to visit his sick grandmother.

Costa said that "Sujon was the only breadwinner in our family, and his sudden death caused enormous financial and mental anguish for us". Her husband, Sontosh, died six months after the killing and, she believes, because of grief over it.

Traumatized by the murder, the family did not file charges at the time, but the police went ahead and charged the suspects the following year. The trial was set to begin only recently, when Costa made her plea.

"As the crucified Jesus forgave his murderers from the cross, I would like to forgive my son's killers," she said.

"In the court, I told the judge verbally and in a written statement that I would like to have my name withdrawn as the complainant in the case, and the court acknowledged my plea," she continued.

"Nothing will help me to get my son back. I wanted to forgive them all to help them to change their lives."

Costa's act set "a shining example of Christian forgiveness for people of all religions," commented Father Patrick Gomes, the local parish priest. "Forgiveness is a divine virtue, and the Catholic Church places this virtue very high, since Jesus set the greatest example of forgiveness on the cross."

Only one of the six suspects was in jail when the charges were dropped. The others had either been freed on bail or had fled the area.

Courtesy : UCAN