Mourners honor Liza who fled Belarus to Warsaw for a new life but was raped and died in a hospital

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Mourners in Poland paid tribute Wednesday evening to a young Belarusian woman who died after being brutally attacked and raped on the streets of Warsaw last month, a crime that has shocked the country.

In recent years, the Polish capital has become a hub for Belarusians fleeing repression and Ukrainians fleeing war. Activists from the three countries organized the event where people gathered at the crime scene in downtown Warsaw, placing flowers and lighting candles in honor of the woman known only as Lizaveta, or Liza.

Participants let out a collective scream and then walked in silence. Some voiced outrage at sexual violence against women and sadness that a young refugee woman who sought safety in Poland was killed so violently.

“She came here to Poland for a better life and in Poland, her life was taken away,” Maja Stasko, an artist and feminist activist, told the mourners. “She was completely alone in this place. We are here for her right now.”