Just like in the tragic tale from the song If I Die Young by the band Perry, murdered nursing student Stacy Roopan was laid to rest in a satin dress and a coffin with roses.As the heart-wrenching song played during the funeral at her grandmother's Preysal home in Couva yesterday, grieving family members held onto her coffin, begging her not to leave. Her three-year-old son Christiano Harickdeo sat on his grandmother Sally Roopan's lap, confused at the commotion.For Sally, the pain of losing her last child was unbearable, and she fainted several times while staring at her daughter's body.An aspiring nurse and pre-school teacher, Roopan, 25, of De Montbrun Street, Balmain, Couva, was gunned down on Monday outside her son's pre-school at the corner of Isaiah Street and Rowano Drive.
The killing came less than two months after an intruder broke into her car and left her a note, threatening to kill her if she testified in an ongoing court matter.Delivering the eulogy yesterday, Lauren Mohammed pleaded with relatives, friends and acquaintances to forgive her cousin if she had offended anyone while alive.With tears streaming down her cheeks, Mohammed said: "Nobody is perfect, everybody makes mistakes, but if they knew the kind of person she was...She was our closest cousin and she always had nice things to say. We will continue to pray that God brings justice to us, because nobody knows how we feel."If she did anyone anything and she did not get a chance to say sorry, now is the time. Please forgive my cousin for anything she did or said. This is the last time we are seeing her, please, just forgive her, for our family's sake."
Mourners were reminded of the chilling reality of death as Open Bible pastor Mahindra Ramsaran likened life to an early-morning mist."On this occasion, I would like to ask the question: 'What is your life?' This is question that we seldom ask ourselves but in the context of what is happening in our nation, we should. Just this morning there were 54 murders and this is the 37th day of this year, 2014."Indeed, with what is happening in our world, maybe it is time you begin to ask yourself the question: What is your life?Preaching from the Bible, he said, "James said life is a vapour that appears for a little time and vanishes. Stacy Casey Roopan was just 24 years of age. He means your life is like a mist."For those of us who may live in the country area, you might notice the place misty, but then after a short time, when morning begins the mist disappears."Screams echoed as Roopan's body was taken via a procession to the Waterloo Cremation Site.Up to yesterday, police were yet to arrest anyone for her murder.