Aiia Maasarwe’s grieving family mourns their ‘bright, gentle, charming girl’
Aiia Maasarwe’s grieving family has told how their charming and beautiful niece chose to study in Melbourne instead of New York because she thought it would be more cultured — a decision the family now deeply regrets.
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Aiia Maasarwe’s grieving family has told how their charming and beautiful niece chose to study in Melbourne instead of New York because she thought it would be more cultured — a decision the family now deeply regrets.
Aiia’s uncle Abed Ali Kattani told the Herald Sun his niece had only done five months of her 10-month planned study trip when she was murdered.
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“Aiia was a charming girl, polite, disciplined, bright, gentle, every mother’s dream,’’ he said.
“She was bright with languages.
“She had a choice between Melbourne and New York and she chose Melbourne because it’s a more cultural and quiet place, and we saw what happened, what the outcome is. Maybe it was a bad choice.’’
Part of a large Arabic family, Aiia was raised in the city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye in central Israel, where her mother Khitam still lives with two of Aiia’s younger sisters, Roba and Lena.
A fourth sister, Noor, the eldest, lives in China with her father Saeed, who is now in Melbourne waiting to bring his daughter’s body back to Israel.
Khitam, Roba and Lena were mourning in private yesterday at a home in the family compound but authorised several family members to speak and share photographs of Aiia.
Men gathered to offer Islamic prayers for Aiia, and provide dates and coffee to visitors to the home, while several of Aiia’s female cousins wept as they sat in a corner and looked at photographs.
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Mr Kattani said Aiia’s father had met with the consul in Melbourne and believed the police were investigating the case thoroughly.
“They have formed a serious investigation team and they are doing the best efforts considering the fact she is a foreign student,’’ he said.
“We don’t know when we will get the body. We are assuming two or three days.
“We have done all the paper and arrangements.’’
He confirmed one of the sisters was on the phone to Aiia from Israel when she was attacked, and another sister had read about it on an Australian news website.
“She saw it (the discovery of a body) was in the area of the university. She called her sister but no one answered.
“We sent people over to knock on the door where she lived in the dorms but no answer. And then the police let us know.’’
Another uncle, Omar, was overcome when he tried to pay tribute to his niece.
Clutching Islamic prayer beads, he pointed to Aiia’s house, and said “this is where Aiia used to live. Such a bright, clever girl.’’
He then broke down in tears.
Her cousin Bacher Maasarwe showed the Herald Sun pictures on the walls of his niece, and said: “We can’t process speaking of Aiia in the past tense.
“She was a charming girl. It’s unbelievable that this has happened to her.’’
He said the Israeli foreign ministry was assisting the family, but urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene to speed up the inquiry.
“I want to send a message to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I know it’s a time of election and all the politicians are busy but I would still ask for him (Mr Netanyahu) to clear a few minutes of his busy schedule to call the Australian Prime Minister and to ask for them to speed up the case, to give all the resources needed,’’ he said.
“We want the killer to get caught and prosecuted. It’s impossible that the killer is free. This could happen to any girl, no matter which country.
“A call from the Prime Minister would speed up the thing and show we are serous. We will not let go as long as the killer is free.’’
He said young women should equip themselves with pepper spray or Tasers to defend themselves against such attacks.
“The Australians are serious, they contact us, we appreciate the work that they do.’’