A religious leader yesterday made a plea for drivers to exercise more caution on the roads as mourners gathered to say their final goodbye to a three-year-old child killed in an accident. Pundit Ravi Maharaj said drivers to be more careful as dangerous driving continues to take lives in accidents around the country.
"Sometimes we wonder where these drivers got their licences. Did they buy it or as we used to say, they got it in a cereal box? Drivers must be considerate for others as they have the lives of other people in their hands," said Maharaj at the funeral service for Ravendra Gattoo. Gattoo died in a vehicular accident last Monday. His mother, Omattie Gattoo, who suffered serious injuries, was discharged from the San Fernando General Hospital on Saturday, to attend the funeral.
She sat in a wheelchair for the funeral service and wore bandages on her right arm and right eye. The funeral service took place at the family’s Bejucal Road, Cunupia home and the child was cremated at the Caroni Cremation Site. About 200 people attended the funeral. Relatives described Ravendra as a loving child. Some of his favourite toys, including a car and a tractor, in his tiny casket. Maharaj singled out truck drivers saying that they needed to police themselves.
"We must all take precautions. Must the police be watching our every move? These truck drivers, are they watching their speed limit? They need to be more considerate," he said. "This was very tragic and no one expected this to happen. When I first heard of this tragedy I put myself in the family's position. This is one of the saddest situations that could happen to anyone," he said.
About the accident:
On December 29, 2014, members of the Cunupia family were returning home around 11 am, after spending the weekend by relatives in Barrackpore when a 40-foot trailer truck collided with their van along M2 Ring Road, Picton, San Fernando.
Ravendra, his mother, his six-year -old sister Stacy and their grandparents, Laloutie Balraj and Maniram Balraj, were in a Mitsubishi four-door van driven by Kumar Gattoo. The truck which was reportedly swerving along the roadway hit the right side of the van and the force of the impact sent the van into a nearby ditch. Ravendra was killed instantly. He was sitting on his mother’s lap and suffered head injuries. All the other occupants were injured, treated and discharged. The driver of the truck was questioned and released.