MONTREAL – An outpouring of people paid their respects to Naima Rharouity Thursday.
Funeral services were held at a mosque in Ville-Saint-Laurent for The 47-year-old woman who died in the metro last week when her scarf got caught in the escalator.
READ MORE: Victim in Montreal scarf escalator death identified by coroner
While she was brought into the spotlight as a victim of a horrific accident, a fact that many have forgotten is that above all, she was a mother.
She left behind two young boys, 6-year-old Ilyas and 7-year-old Adam.
“They’re still trying to understand what’s going on with the absence of their mother,” Naima’s brother Mohammed said.
“They’ll understand more when they go to the mosque and pray for their mom for the last time.”
Mohammed Rharouity describes his sister as intelligent, very active, serious and extremely dynamic.
She volunteered her time at a local community centre in Villeray, with a dream to eventually open a daycare.
The family is leaving for morocco Thursday night to bury her body in her hometown.
Before that, the community she touched came to pay their respects, whether they knew her or not.
Some mourners, however, were outraged with some media outlets that have been headlining the incident, writing that she was strangled to death by her hijab.
READ MORE: Media misfire and horrific reactions over tragic metro death
One woman at the mosque was overwhelmed with anger, she yelled at the cameras to stop focusing so much on the hijab and respect their religion.
She explained that they left their own oppressive countries to live in freedom.
On Tuesday, Mohammed was told by the coroner that his sister actually died from a traumatic brain injury at the Fabre metro.
The coroner’s office refused to comment on the findings but said they will release an official report in the coming months.
“Until we know the truth, we won’t be able to turn the page,” Mohammed told Global News.
“She’s left everyone far too quickly, he says, even Quebec society has suffered a loss.”
Comments