Death of the Mootoo-Caroopen Couple in an Accident - Yovana, Victim's Daughter: "The Driver Ruined My Family's Life"

The Mootoo-Caroopen family was set to celebrate life in Australia, but a reckless driver destroyed everything in mere seconds on the Southern highway.

A white bandage wraps around her head like a shroud. Karishma, 40, stumbles, weakened and devastated but trying to stand strong to accompany her parents one last time. On Lorquet Alley in Beau-Bassin, on Tuesday, January 27, the bodies of Kaylasson, 72, and Rajenee Mootoo-Caroopen, 67, left their home amidst shock and sorrow. United in life as in death, the couple is buried together. Their son, Romish Cris, 39, seriously injured in the accident that claimed their lives, has just left intensive care and is now in a regular room.

"We were a peaceful family," Yovana, their other daughter, whispers, having rushed back from Australia on a direct flight after learning of the tragedy. Kaylasson, a pastor at the Phoenix Assembly of God, was "a spiritual guide for the people in the church; he was always there to help others." Rajenee, a former mayor of Beau-Bassin/Rose-Hill, "was a person with a heart of gold: she was friendly, generous, and always ready to help others. There was no one she didn’t assist. She was a good soul."

After more than fifty years of shared life, their existence was wholly devoted to others. "While my mother was a mother to everyone, she never looked at religion; she loved helping people," Yovana recalls through tears. "My mother was a pillar for everything, my father was a spiritual pillar."

Just days earlier, on the night of January 21, this ordinary family was driving towards Plaisance Airport in a van driven by their chauffeur, Sanjay Bhurosy. Karishma, a teacher, was returning to Australia after spending vacations with her parents. The atmosphere was peaceful until an unsettling noise filled the air on the Southern highway, shortly before the Gros-Billot roundabout in New-Grove.

"My sister told us that in the lane, she heard a car drifting on the road," Yovana recounts. Skidding in the night. Then, just after midnight, "the car appeared in front of them." The Toyota Aqua, driven by Rajeev Khawal, 29, a resident of Mahébourg employed at a security firm, suddenly veered off the fast lane and violently collided with their vehicle, which was traveling in the middle lane.

The impact was brutal. "The car spun, and we went into the ravine. After that, everything turned dark." The van was thrown into the wooded area bordering the highway. The only one conscious in the wreckage, Karishma desperately searches for her mother in the darkness. "She found my mother inert. She said there were people with my brother and my father, but there was no one with my mother," Yovana reports.

Rajenee lay lifeless. She was killed instantly. Her husband Kaylasson, their son Romish Cris, their daughter Karishma, and their chauffeur Sanjay Bhurosy are injured. Meanwhile, the driver of the Toyota Aqua emerged unscathed.

On the asphalt, this stretch of highway has now become a scene of desolation. The driver is surrounded by other motorists, furious with rage. "People made him sit down; they were cursing him. They were very angry, saying he had been speeding from afar," Karishma relayed to her sister.

Kaylasson was still breathing. He was evacuated. For five days, he fought on his hospital bed. On Sunday, January 25, he succumbed to his injuries, plunging the already devastated Mootoo-Caroopen family into double mourning. "Due to the irresponsibility of that driver, I lost my mother and my father," laments Yovana.

At Lorquet Alley, in their home in Beau-Bassin, future plans lie in ruins. This year, Romish Cris was supposed to celebrate his 40th birthday in Australia with the whole family gathered. "My parents had planned for us all to be together. Nothing came to fruition," Yovana sobs. "We still had many things they needed to do for my brother, for me, for my sister, and for their grandchildren."

She directly blames the reckless driver: "My parents still had so much time to live ahead of them. At their age, losing both parents in an instant is not easy." And she pounds with anger and sorrow: "That driver destroyed my family's life. My mother, my father are no longer here. They were normal and innocent people, filled with joy. That driver didn’t just kill one life but two. I cannot accept this brutal, absurd death, especially since my parents, she insists, "were good people. No one could say anything bad about my mother, my father." Their sudden departure has left the children orphaned and inconsolable, bearing an irreparable scar for life.

On his part, Rajeev Khawal is now on his eleventh day behind bars. On January 21, a provisional charge of involuntary manslaughter was filed against him before the Mahébourg court. However, after his confessions during interrogation, and following Kaylasson Mootoo-Caroopen's death, a second charge for involuntary manslaughter due to negligence was brought against him in court midweek.

The police investigation is led by Chief Inspector Kheedoo, Sergeant Trivassen from the Rose-Belle police station, under the supervision of Superintendent Bansoodeb.