An Indonesian banana seller was robbed of all his savings of 1 million rupiah ($75) last week, but thanks to the kindness of social media users, his funds were returned nearly 40 times over.
Known only as Mr. Suratman, the 94-year-old banana merchant, from Jambi on the island of Sumatra, was lured into a vehicle by a driver who pretended to buy his fruit.
Once inside, two men forced Suratman to empty his pockets, kicked him out, and drove off with his savings, BBC reported.
The elderly man had been saving up to buy some new furniture for his family in honor of Eid al-Fitr at the end of June.
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Left crying on the side of the road, the poor man was approached by a local named Tommy Reza, who immediately created a fundraising campaign which he shared with his friends on Facebook.
Video of Suratman has gone viral, garnering more than 5 million views since it was first posted on June 5.
“Many people from Jambi and even overseas from places like Hong Kong and Malaysia got in touch to ask me where they could donate money,” Reza said.
With help from his friends and the kindness of strangers, Reza has raised more than 37 million rupiah (about $2,785) for Suratman.
Moved by the story, the local government also donated an additional 5 million rupiah (about $376) to the campaign funds and purchased the remainder of Suratman’s banana stock.
In a follow-up post, Reza can be seen delivering the money to the man’s family.
“He was very grateful and he was praying. I told him that I was only the messenger,” Reza was quoted as saying. “Indonesians are amazing. I’m touched by their compassion towards one another.”
