The meeting took place in the office of the mayor of Donori Maurizio Meloni. «He apologized to me for the theft of vegetables from my farm, I saw the sorrow, the repentance, the sincerity in his eyes». Pierpaolo Melis, 56 years old, a farmer from Donori , left the Town Hall and showed up at the Carabinieri barracks: «I withdrew the complaint: that fellow villager of mine made a mistake and I'm sure he won't do it again. He was probably in a difficult personal time and didn't realize what he was doing. Fattu factu, I had turned to justice ( HERE IS THE NEWS ) not so much against that 62 year old man who I know well, as kids we worked together side by side as agricultural workers, but because I am exasperated and disappointed by the situation".

Which?

«The constant thefts I suffer in my company».

Since when?

«In recent years they have increased a lot. Watermelons, vegetables, tomatoes, courgettes are disappearing all the time. A serious damage for those who live from this. In Donori we all know each other, I don't deny that I have suspicions about some of my fellow villagers, I didn't imagine that among the petty thieves there could be that 62 year old man who has a fixed salary. He made a mistake and he certainly wasn't the one who often reaped what my family and I sow every year."

You care a lot about your company. «Yes, for me it is a second opportunity that life has given me. I worked as a tractor driver on a farm, I had some illnesses, I found myself considered invalid by the system and unemployed from one day to the next. It was 2008, I was 40 years old and had a family to support. A specialist understood what my pathology was, a mild form of epilepsy, and found the cure. I recovered and looked around: I took out a loan to expand our company on that land now plundered by thieves, I'm running the business with the help of my wife, I can't bear to see this sacrifice being wasted by thieves. And not only".

Not only?

«There are also wild boars, who dig the earth near the drains in search of worms or snails: they have devastated our watermelon crop, an entire crop destroyed. Other damage."

Thefts in the countryside?

«We have organized ourselves among neighbors to prevent them: if anyone sees suspicious movements, warn the others. So it was the other Sunday when a friend found that fellow villager among the rows of tomatoes and stopped him."

Then his forgiveness. Great value.

«Look, we are a small community, I like to think of living in a big family. This is why I can't stand theft and in a moment of disappointment, perhaps exasperation, I reported the fellow villager. I hope it can be a lesson, both the complaint and the fact that he withdrew it after the apologies and repentance of his fellow villager. If anyone is in need, knock on the neighbor's house, do not rob him. The doors in Donori's homes are always open for those in difficulty."

© Riproduzione riservata