Jakarta: The son of a woman who was killed in a recent church bombing in Indonesia says his family has forgiven those responsible for the attack.
Kurnianto, a native of Tangerang, Banten, said his mother Lim was on a business trip to Surabaya with her friends and were staying in a hotel that was near Surabaya Cathedral one of the three churches attacked on May 13.
Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, is some 810 km northeast of Jakarta, the national capital. Banten is the westernmost province of Indonesia’s island of Java, some 140 km southwest of Jakarta.
Lim was among seven people killed on May 13 when six members of the same family carried out a coordinated suicide bomb attack on three churches in Surabaya. The attackers included two sons and two daughters. All six also died in the bomb blasts. The parents reportedly belonged to Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, a terrorist group that supports Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Indonesia.
“On behalf of my mother, I apologize if she made any mistakes during her life, and please pray for her, she is now in heaven,” Kurnianto was quoted by kompas.com, a Church news portal. “And as for the perpetrators, we forgive them and I believe my mother is in the House of the Lord,” he said at the funeral.
Kurnianto arrived at Bhayangkara Police Hospital on May 14 along with his father and siblings to take Lim’s body home, reported kompas.com.
He said his mother and her two friends were staying in a hotel close to Surabaya Cathedral. “But this is perhaps God’s way. She went to the church in Ngagel instead, which people say is one of the oldest churches in Surabaya,” he added.
According to the CCTV footage he had seen, Kurnianto said his mother was right next to the bomber’s motorcycle in front of the church when the bomb detonated.
“When I saw the CCTV, I don’t know, perhaps it was God’s beautiful plan. When Mama arrived at the gate, she did not enter the church [and] she stayed there about five minutes,” he said.
Kurnianto said he trusted the nation’s security apparatus and that they had been diligent. “My message to the public [is]: Please don’t judge any religions, because no religion asks [the believers] to do evil things. We believe the government has done their best for the nation and stated. And finally, God please help Indonesia,” Kurnianto said.