Woman killed in accident, husband and baby hurt

The common-law husband of Barrackpore mother Shamilla Singh, 36, who was killed in a car accident on Monday afternoon, is yet to be told of her death. Her husband, Shameer Hosein Boban, 27, and their six-month-old daughter Karen Hosein Boban survived the accident and are warded at San Fernando General Hospital.

Boban, a mechanic at the Siparia Regional Corporation, was in critical condition up to press time. Relatives said before he lost consciousness on Monday afternoon, he kept asking for his wife. But Singh, a geriatric nurse at Mt Hope, was already dead and relatives were afraid this news would worsen his condition, so they opted not to tell him.

His sister Elianna said, “Shameer is in ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Before he went into unconsciousness, he was asking for her. My mother told him that she is ok. She did not want to tell the truth because he did not do the surgery yet. The baby is safe, but we don’t know about when she will be discharged.”

Baby Karen is in stable condition, having suffered only minor injuries. Police reported that shortly before 5 pm, Boban was driving his Nissan Sunny east along GP Road in Barrackpore. Singh was sitting in the back with her baby, who was in an infant car seat. Police said that near Mussarapp Trace, a white Nissan Tiida heading in the opposite direction slammed head-on into the Sunny. On impact, the two occupants of the Tiida, both 19, were thrown out and landed in the nearby bush.

Singh died at the scene in her car. Her husband and baby and the two teenagers were taken to hospital, where they all remained warded up to last evening. Relatives of Boban said the couple was returning home from work on Monday when the accident happened. They had earlier picked up the baby from a daycare centre and were about two minutes’ drive from home.

Boban’s family knew little about his wife. A relative said, “She came to live here for the past two years. We do not know much about Shamilla. She was a more indoor person. We know nothing about her family and we are not sure about where she was originally from.” According to her driver’s permit, Singh was from St Joseph. Late yesterday, her in-laws made contact with a sister from Chaguanas.

Boban’s brother Shultz said, “We wanted to give them first preference with the body. We expect to meet with the sister tonight. If we didn’t make contact, we would have arranged for funeral under Muslim rites. I get to understand she was Christian.” An autopsy at the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James, confirmed that Singh’s death was consistent with an accident. Police are continuing investigations.