Kadeen Dass shared a message of forgiveness with mourners yesterday at the funeral of his cousin, Carla Achalal. Achalal, 30, was killed during a robbery at her Bonne Aventure, Gasparillo home last Thursday, after she was bound and gagged by the bandits.
Achalal, who was autistic, suffocated after a bedsheet was stuffed into her mouth and her lips were taped shut. Her father, Vishnu Achalal and brother, Marlon Achalal, were also bound and gagged by the bandits but they survived the attack. The family owns a hardware located at the front of their home.
Dass said: “Carla was a bubbly and spritely person. She brought a special light to our lives.” Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said: “Today I want to ask everybody to be that change you want to see in the world. Let us all show love to one another, let us all be our brother’s keeper, let us all forgive those who need to be forgiven.”
Dass said Carla’s family have forgiven her killers. “If you think about the people who did this, we as the family want to love and forgive,” he said
Pundit Krishna Sieunarine, who officiated at the funeral, said one of society’s biggest issues is people’s need to dominate others.
“Everyone feels like I am greater than you and you feel like you are greater than me and that’s the problem in society today. I have said before, if there is beauty in the heart...it will lead to peace in the nation.”
Pundit Sieunarine said many people pray for peace without realising it can only be found within.
“Everybody is praying for peace, everyone is crying out for peace but where can it be found? Search thine hearts... search your heart and there is a fountain of peace...the day we recognise this, there will be peace in the world.”
He advised mourners to keep their faith in God, as that is the greatest protection against the increasing crime rates.
“There are so many robberies and killings all over, but I have read from my scriptures, who God protects no one can harm. That is my conviction and my faith in my God which will keep me safe. Once you have faith and you believe, they can’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.”
Achalal was cremated at the Shore of Peace in La Romaine.