Shoe thief feels guilty... after 8 years

A Saudi man whose shoes were stolen nearly eight years ago has just received a letter from the alleged thief apologizing for the theft and offering SR500 (Dh500) as compensation, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Abu Abdul Rahman said he was going into his office this week when a boy came in and handed him an envelope given to him by an unknown man.

He told Sabq daily that the envelope contained a letter from the unknown thief apologizing for stealing his shoes eight years ago, adding that the envelope also contained SR500, which the alleged thief said was a compensation for the shoes.

“He said in his letter that he felt guilty and asked me to forgive him in this holy month of Ramadan…actually, I forgave him eight years ago,” Abdul Rahman said.

“To be honest, my shoes were worth around SR250…so I decided to accept this sum and give half of it to charity,” he added.

The paper quoted him as saying he was at his relative’s wedding in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah eight years ago when his shoes were stolen. “I remember that I returned home barefoot at that night.”