Have you ever heard about this man Samandar Singh? Have you heard about Sister Rani Maria? Do you know what is the link that connects these two?
If you do not, let me make it clear. Sister Rani Maria was an young Malayali nun serving among the poor people in some rural areas near Indore in Madhya Pradesh. She was brutally killed in broad day light in a bus in front of many by a fanatic group sponsored by some landlords of the area who were annoyed with the social work of the sister among the downtrodden people. And Samandar Singh was the man who stabbed her, not once or twice, but fifty four times!
I remember reading about the news of this sensational murder and also hearing about it in the TV news channels. It was a day in 1995.
At that time I too was working in the same state. The sister was none known to me, but I too hailed from her own home state, Kerala.
There were no more follow up news and the incident got forgotten from the minds of people like me. Murder and heinous crimes keep happening in this world and keep getting reported in small columns and clips.
The media sometimes make it sensational or ignore it as per their assessment and convenience. At times they also provide news about some later day happenings.
Today morning an young doctor, Jeevan Kuruvilla, who too is a blogger like me, reproduced the touching story of transformation of the killer, Samandar Singh.
It is the story about the power of forgiveness and love. This is one of the most important teachings of Jesus to all his true followers on earth.
And here is a live example of that happening in India. It was never any rare happening. True Christians indeed follow this in letter and spirit. When they follow it, the miracle power of God acts.
In the case of Samandar Singh too, the same thing happened. He was the most daring and brutal killer who did not blink an eye to kill an innocent lady who did only good to every one. He stabbed even her dead and bleeding body, which even hardcore criminals would not attempt!
What happened next?
The police nabbed Samandar Singh and his two companions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and his friends were let out for want of evidences by the courts. That was expected and even the murderer did not think otherwise.
But the miracle happened later when the younger sister of sister Maria, herself a nun who opted voluntarily to work in the same place where her murdered sister worked, took permission to visit the jail to meet her sister's brutal killer. The young nun did not visit the fellow for expressing her anger. She visited him to transform an erring human with the love of God.
The news is that she not only expressed her forgiveness to him, but also tied a rakhi on his hands, a Hindu custom for renewal of the sister-brother relation. By tying the rakhi threads on his hands, the sister accepted him as her brother!
Then and there, the power of God began to act in the mind of this once brutal human being.
The miracle was happening. Samandar Singh's hardened criminal mind began to melt! He was feeling remorse for the first time! He wanted to cry and repent. And he just did that! Not once, but on many occasions later and he still does that.
Samandar Singh was pardoned by the parents of the nun and they gave it in writing to the authorities. The younger nun and others tried for his early release from the jail. Those efforts finally succeeded in the recent times as Samandar Singh came out from the jail to joy.
The released man is a totally transformed person who has now associated with the good work of the nuns in his area.
He is indeed a living witness to the power of forgiveness!
He is indeed a living witness to the power of forgiveness!
Suggested other readings in this context:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are welcome. Express your opinions publicly, but responsibly. Comment moderation is applied and inappropriate comments do not get published.