Relatives: Don't blame anyone for Kaylee's death

RELATIVES of Kaylee Poonan, 17, bid her farewell during her funeral on August 24, but leading her final rites, Pundit Atma Maharaj warned people against ascribing blame to anyone over her death.

"An accident is just an accident, meaning that we can blame anyone. We can say what we want to say, (but) none of us were there, and it is not useful to assign any kind of blame to anyone.

"What is important for us is to draw some strength, message and lesson from the loss of our beloved daughter."

On August 20, Poonan, of Peterloo Street, Friendship Village, was in the front passenger seat of a car driven by her 19-year-old boyfriend. She died when he allegedly lost control and slammed into a lightpole on the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway.

He was warded at the San Fernando General Hospital. Her boyfriend bought the second-hand Mitsubishi Evolution six days before the accident.

The public has since been outraged by the incident as they questioned why his parents allowed such an inexperienced driver to own a powerful car. This was only worsened by the revelation that he survived a 2022 fatal accident which claimed the lives of one of his friends, even though he was not driving. It has since led to public calls for his licence to be suspended.

Poonan also caught some of the public's criticisms after it was revealed one of the last posts she made to her Facebook page was sharing and tagging the boyfriend in a photo of someone holding on to the handles inside a car to brace themselves with the caption: "No joke, mans drive like if I have extra lives."

The post caused many to question why Poonan even got into the car with him.

As he began the funeral at Poonan's home, Maharaj said people's continued commentary on her death was doing more harm than good.

"You know, like you go to visit someone in the hospital and you want to know the medicine, you want to know the doctor, you want to know everything. Similarly, like this, each time you ask unnecessary questions and you go into the network of social media, it is really exacerbating a situation that is already difficult for the family."

During a brief conversation at her home with relatives the day after the accident which claimed her life, Newsday was told misinformation and criticisms on social media were angering and hurting the family.

Other media reports said Poonan's relatives did not blame the boyfriend for the accident.

Delivering Poonan's eulogy was her cousin Racquel Amanda Ramcharitar who remembered the day she was born on September 15, 2006. She reminisced fondly about witnessing Poonan grow up and experiencing her kind and gentle soul.

She also recounted speaking to her the day before she died.

"I couldn't imagine I'd ever be standing here to deliver her eulogy. Kaylee knocked the wind out of us on Tuesday night. At least, that's how I felt.

"I choked on my own breath when the word 'Kaylee' and 'died' (were) in the same sentence. I never thought I would hear those words together."

Ramcharitar told Poonan to ask God to give her family the courage and strength to cope with her loss.

Poonan was later cremated under Hindu rites at the Shore of Peace Cremation Site at Mosquito Creek, San Fernando.