by Adeola Balogun

The mother of a murder victim showed true forgiveness in Iran when she caused the life of her son’s killer to be spared.

The condemned man, identified simply as Balal, was to be hanged and on the day of his execution, residents gathered to watch.

Balal, who is in his 20s, stabbed 18-year-old Abdollah Hosseinzadeh 7 years ago in the small town of Royan, in the province of Mazandaran.

According to law, the victim’s family is entitled to participate in the execution by pushing away the chair on which the convict stood.

However, just before his life could be ended, the victim’s mother moved towards him, gave him a soft slap on the face and indicated that she had forgiven him.

Abdollah’s father said that he and his wife had decided to forgive the killer because their son had appeared to his mother in a dream and told her that he was in a better place.

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