Losing a loved one is always an ugly experience but for 15-year-old Caricia Sammut the sadness of losing her mother is accompanied by anger at the way she was murdered.
Her mother Christina, a widow, was shot and killed on Saturday in Żebbiegħ and her former boyfriend, Kenneth Gafà, was yesterday charged with the murder.
“I just cannot believe it. It is so hard to stomach. I feel like the world has just crashed down on me,” Caricia told The Times.
She described her mother as “a very courageous woman who never gave up on anything” and a person who always sported “a lovely smile” on her face even when times were hard.
“My mother really helped others in every possible way, always giving good advice and forgiving those who hurt her feelings,” Caricia said, insisting she was the best mother in the world.
It is probably the obvious thing any 15-year-old would say but having lost her husband, Mrs Sammut was her daughter’s only fulcrum.
“She worked very hard for me and for the company she ran,” Caricia said, about her mother’s business selling hair products.
Recalling the time when they were on a holiday in Disneyland, Caricia describes that as her best memory with her mother.
“She had fulfilled my dream and I will strive to make her proud of me,” she said.
However, the sweet memories are tainted by the bitter reality that saw her mother being taken away from her.
Caricia said her mother had a six-month relationship with Mr Gafà but decided to end it because “he was being very possessive”.
“At some point he started threatening my mother and insisted on continuing the relationship but she did not want to. She reported these incidents to the police several times,” Caricia said, adding they had been to the police station just a day before the murder.
“Thanks to what happened I ended up without a mum. Now I can only see her in my dreams and in the photos. I miss her so much and I wish I could turn back time, just to hold her and feel her warmth again.”
Her mother’s funeral is being held tomorrow at St Paul’s church in Rabat at 3 p.m.