Often dubbed the 'Bob Marley of Seggae', Joseph Reginald Topize, was found dead in his prison cell at Alcatraz in the capital city of Mauritius, Port Louis. Also known as Kaya, he was born on the 10th August 1960 and died on 21 February 1999. He is widely known for inventing the genre of Seggae which is a mixture of Reggae and the Mauritian Sega.
His early childhood was spent in Roche-Bois and at the beginning of his career, he performed mostly in wedding parties as a guitarist being inspired from the great Reggae singer Bob Marley. On 19th February 1999, Rama Valayden, the leader of Republican Movement had organised a musical concert to eradicate the consumption of cannabis, as at that time around 2000 people were sentenced due to several soft drugs and to prevent a bad image for the country. Five groups of local artists were invited to perform on that concert, including the Seggae singer Kaya. During the concert Kaya and his friends smoked the marijuana in open air and were later arrested by the police.
His early childhood was spent in Roche-Bois and at the beginning of his career, he performed mostly in wedding parties as a guitarist being inspired from the great Reggae singer Bob Marley. On 19th February 1999, Rama Valayden, the leader of Republican Movement had organised a musical concert to eradicate the consumption of cannabis, as at that time around 2000 people were sentenced due to several soft drugs and to prevent a bad image for the country. Five groups of local artists were invited to perform on that concert, including the Seggae singer Kaya. During the concert Kaya and his friends smoked the marijuana in open air and were later arrested by the police.
An official request was issued by the police that they would release the singer if only they bring 10,000 Mauritian rupees as a contravention. But Kaya's wife did not had enough to pay, so his friends came for his help and arranged the sum. Unfortunately, all this was done on weekend and according to the law he had to wait till Monday. But it was too late by then as on Sunday morning, Kaya was found dead in his cell.
This incident caused a chaos across the entire island, all his fans started protesting over his death. Out of anger, they destroyed and attacked at least nine police stations around the island, even setting fire on the road and supermarkets. The riot went on for several days and four were killed among which were one police man and one local singer named Berger Agathe.
According to the autopsy report, Kaya had fractures on his head and his legs were severely bruised. In fact, his legs were chained and he was brutally beaten but the authorities denied it and said that injured his head by him continuously banging his head against the wall and was kicking the prison cell bars. It is reported that he confessed of his crime and but was still brutally murdered. Neither his clothes nor his personal things were given to his family.After his death, no one from the detention center was suspended or arrested.
Here is the first official record that was presented in court;
'Kaya, having confessed to smoking a joint, during a concert organized by Rama Valayden in favour of decriminalization marijuana, was arrested as is natural for anyone who is breaking a law of the land and he was locked up in a cell and then, his being a supposed drug addict or alcoholic led to him having around his cell in delirium, until he fell flat on his face, causing fatal injury to his head. When his guards opened the cell door there he lay, dead'.
21 years later, no one could ever replace Kaya, an artist who inspired an entire country and united us when the system tried to divide us. For his 20th anniversary, the Blue Penny museum commemorated his death by showcasing an array of paintings and sculptures made by the artists who he inspired and love him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glo_--yEOGM
Comments
Post a Comment