The Lemmouchi Family in Mourning: Call for a March to Honor the Memory of the Late Rayane
Interview with Doctor Laouar Kheira,
mother of the late Rayane Lemmouchi
Comments collected by Nabil Mati
One year, to the day, after the terrible assassination of the young dental surgeon Rayane Lemmouchi, cowardly killed with a stab at the foot of the Égalité aux Lilas plaque (Seine-Saint-Denis), which severed his the femoral artery, we were able to speak on the telephone with his mother, Doctor Laouar Kheira, in order to gather news and take stock of the investigation.
This heinous crime, which shattered the destiny of a 25-year-old young man, esteemed by all and promised a bright futurewho has wiped out an entire family and plunged the Muslim community into dismay, was committed on May 21, 2023, by a gang of young people.
Under the weight of immeasurable sadness, the pain of Rayane's family is still palpable. Her difficulty in rebuilding herself is all the greater as she is far from having overcome the cruel, brutal, unthinkable mourning that struck her during a disastrous evening last spring.
Indeed, her mother's voice, full of heartbreaking melancholy, testifies to the immense pain she experiences, which inhabits her every day. On the other end of the phone, through his hesitant words, interspersed with stifled sobs, we felt each of the emotions that gripped him. She spoke with a slowness steeped in pain, each sentence seeming to be an ordeal in itself.
At the end of a long day of work, his physical fatigue was mixed with deep emotional weariness. Tragedy, mourning, the tragic and sudden loss of a loved one, of the flesh of one's flesh, are now part of the life of the Lemmouchi family.
This courageous mother, although heartbroken by the absence of her son, by the abysmal void he leaves behind, found the strength to remain standing, and to continue the course of her existence without him. Faced with the harsh reality of a life that will never be the same after this terrible tragedy, Dr. Laouar Keihra agreed to share with us moving memories of his child, describing how devoted he was to his family and his profession .
Her words, strong and poignant, expressed at the same time her indescribable sorrow, her frustration in the face of the endless wait for justice and her slim hope of seeing the investigation finally succeed, firmly resolved that the memory of her son be properly honored and his murderers punished, commensurate with their vile crime.
“I feel like an amputee” she confides, her voice choked with tears, adding: “The loss of Rayane broke the whole family.”
Very distressed, this psychiatrist, who practices in Toulouse, painfully returned to work in January 2024, after realizing that she would find no source of relief by staying at home. “This return to work was not a sign of improvement, but rather an acknowledgment that I can never get better,” she explains.
She described to us the deep darkness into which the death of her son plunged her and from which it is so difficult to emerge. “This is what these assassins imposed on us,” she laments, adding: “Time has stopped for us since my son’s assassination.”
Rayane's mother still does not understand why her child, an extremely respectful, affable and problem-free son, was murdered. She is prey to perpetual questioning which torments and obsesses her. “If they had given him just a few more seconds, his killers would certainly have stopped killing him,” she said in a quavering voice, from which we perceive the infinite suffering and incomprehension. “He was someone who knew how to talk to everyone,” she insists, upset.
Regarding her murderers, she wonders if they were really aware of what they were doing. “The reason why I want my son's trial to go to the end is to make his assassins aware of the monstrosity of their actions and show them who my son Rayane really was,” she insists.
She also told us that nine of the suspects, including a minor, have been behind bars since December 2023, while others are still wanted. She recognizes that the investigation is progressing slowly but surely, and that all means are being implemented to ensure that it progresses in the right direction.
Rayane's mother would like to thank all the people who supported her in this terrible ordeal, including anonymous people who continue, even today, to send her messages of sympathy, compassion and comfort. “Their compassion and comforting words gave me the strength to keep going,” she assures, full of gratitude.
In a collective and family spirit driven by deep emotion, Rayane's mother launches a solemn call for a silent and collected March to be held, in tribute to her beloved son.
She warmly invites all people who knew Rayane or who were affected by her tragic end to join this great March in her memory, scheduled for Monday, May 20, at 11 a.m., rue de L'Egalité, in the commune of Lilas. .
This gathering will be an opportunity to remember Rayane together, to pay her a poignant tribute, but also to keep her memory alive in the hearts of all those who loved her.
During this telephone interview with Doctor Laouar Kheira, we understood why there is no specific word, in any language in the world, to designate a parent who loses a child, unlike the orphan who mourns their parents or the widow(er) his/her other half.
The suffering felt by this grieving mother, after the death of her son, which was all the more unbearable because it was fundamentally unjust and incredibly violent, could be summed up in these words: “You are no longer where you were, but you are eternally everywhere where I am. »
We belong to Allah and to Him we return.
Peace to your soul, Dear Doctor Lemmouchi Rayane.
