Moosa's family vow to 'never forgive' his killer

Family say no one from the killer's family had tried to contact them to seek their forgiveness.

The grandfather of four-year-old Moosa Mukhtiar Ahmed, Imdad Hussein, holding pictures of his grandson.

DUBAI // Since Moosa Mukhtiar Ahmed's murder, his family has organised and paid for a meal every Friday for the children of their neighbourhood.
It is, they say, a work of charity in honour of their young son's soul. And his father said that today's feast will be bigger as they celebrate the execution of their son's killer - a moment they say has led to an outpouring of congratulations from around the region.
Family members and relatives in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia began calling Mukhtiar Ahmed Khudabaksh and his wife, Jamala Imdad, early yesterday and congratulating them, Mr Ahmed said.
He said they all praised Allah for his mercy and justice, although he said he could never forgive Moosa's killer.
"This is justice and justice has been served, and I will never forgive him for what he did to my son," Moosa's mother said.
Imdad Hussain, Moosa's maternal grandfather, said his heart was now at peace.
Mr Hussein said that no one from the killer's family had tried to contact Moosa's family and seek their forgiveness.
"We are people with mercy in our hearts, we might have forgiven him," he said.
But Mr Ahmed interrupted, saying, "I don't want to see any of them, and I wouldn't have forgiven him, not then and not now."
The killer has no full brothers or sisters and his parents both died when he was a child. His stepfamily and other relatives declined to comment when contacted yesterday at their villa, not far from where Moosa lived.
A prison official who witnessed the execution said: "Even if the parents of the victim forgave him, the death sentence would still have been carried out."
Nonetheless, he said, none of the officials present expected the family to grant Rashid their forgiveness.
"Imagine to be in their place, and you will know that forgiveness is not among your feelings or vocabulary at that moment, when you see in front of you the man who did these awful things to your son," he said.
 
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