The beard is just splashed with white, the eyes are the same as they were then. Those who thirty years ago, on January 15, 1992, opened up on the prince of nightmares, a black, hooded man who takes you away from your bed and your certainties as a child. The games, the mother, the multiplication tables to study as his father Fateh reminded him in the first appeal, hooking up to a blown normality. Farouk Kassam was seven years old and in the following months it would become the case . The protagonist of the kidnapping of the mysteries, the one who, in different roles, saw two generations of red primroses of Sardinian banditry on the field. Today he is 37 and he is a businessman who divides himself between Rome, Dubai and Sardinia where, among other things, he continues to follow the family hotel, the "Luci di la Muntagna". It crosses the memories of thirty years, even the most raw, with apparent lightness and grace. And he has not yet decided to reconstruct the ear that marks the days of barbarism.
Is January 15th a date marked on your calendar?
"Actually no. In thirty years it has happened more often to me to forget than to remember. Maybe my parents remind me. I haven't forgotten anything but I don't have January 15th in my head ».
In an interview with this newspaper, in 2002 he said that perhaps he would think about reconstructing the ear in twenty years. Has the time come?
“No, and maybe it will never come. I don't feel the need or at least not yet. Maybe I feel it like a war scar ».
The most vivid memory of those days?
"I remember everything. But in particular the first impact with the whole story. When a hooded man dressed in black came to get me under the covers. '
The ugliest of all?
“Paradoxically when they released me, because I didn't realize it was all over. They left me alone, sitting on a rock in the middle of the night saying someone would come and get me. Thinking about it now, it couldn't have been worse than what I had experienced up to then but I didn't know what awaited me. Ear cropping was not the worst moment when I experienced it, I only realized afterwards. And then there were the lashes, what forced me to eat, the way I had to relieve myself. "
In the cave-prison he drew little houses, evidence that was then important in the trial against his kidnappers. Did he leave his traces like Tom Thumb?
“It was completely unconscious. I was bored, time never passed, and the only pastime was making these drawings. A child instinctively draws a house. I certainly wasn't thinking of leaving a trace of my passage ».
The best memory after the liberation?
“Feeling free has been a very long journey. There was no precise moment but at a certain point I was able to go beyond this story emotionally and the support of my family and friends who were close to me was fundamental, they were able to make me think of other things when it was necessary. Let's say that I think I have really overcome it from the age of 25, since I was able to talk about it even lightly ».
Have you ever been afraid of going back to Sardinia?
"Never. I'll be back in a few days, I spent the holidays there, I spend part of my life there also because I take care of the family hotel ».
Not even as a child?
"No. Maybe as a child, I felt a little too much eyes on me from other people ».
Are you still "little Farouk" for the people you meet today?
“Many still remember, either directly or because every now and then they talk about it in the newspapers. There are also those who meet me and say “you remind me of someone”. The positive side is that there is still a lot of solidarity and participation even among those who comment on social networks ».
His story was the first in Sardinia to see strong popular mobilization against kidnappings. Was solidarity a comfort?
«Yes, I felt it a lot and it is one of the reasons why I feel the bond with this land very strong. I also feel a bit Sardinian ».
His kidnapping is among the most famous because it is associated, in different roles, with the names of Matteo Boe and Graziano Mesina. Do you follow their stories?
“I read the papers but I don't have much to say about it. I believe that everyone is responsible for their actions and that's it. You don't hear about Boe and I think it's a good thing, but Mesina always makes people talk about himself ».
He stated that he would never forgive his kidnapper Matteo Boe. Do you remain of the same opinion?
«Forgiving is never easy, and not so much for a personal fact but for everything that the person represented, for the sufferings not only mine but that of my family. I think the question is not my forgiveness but whether he should ask for forgiveness. "
What did he think when he went free?
«At first glance,“ have it been twenty years already? ”. In any case, he is a human being, I hope he makes the best possible use of his time in freedom ».
One of the strongest images of thirty years ago was that of his mother's appeal to the women of Barbagia on Easter Day in Orgosolo. What did you think when you saw her again?
“He had a lot of courage, I think it was the desperate gesture of a mother thinking about what she can do to save her son. And knowing her, one appreciates even more the value of that gesture, because she is not a person who is easily exposed. I think my mother's appeal had its weight. "
What would he tell himself about those days as a child?
“Oh my God, I'm not prepared for this question, maybe because I don't have any children at the moment but I hope that day will come. Perhaps that life must be lived in all the paths we have to cross ».
Caterina De Roberto