Mourners gathered at the Basilica of
San Giustina in Padua on Tuesday morning for the funeral of
Giulia Cecchettin, the 22-year-old killed by her former
boyfriend, 21-year-old Filippo Turetta, on November 11.
Organisers expected up to 10,000 people to pay their last
respects to the slain Padua university biomedical engineering
student whose brutal murder has shocked the nation and put the
issue of femicide and gender-based violence in Italy centre
stage.
Just under 1,200 mourners could be accommodated in the basilica
itself, with the rest watching on big screens in Prato della
Valle and live on television.
Lessons have been suspended at Padua university where Cecchettin
was due to graduate on November 16, and the rector Daniela
Mapelli will attend the funeral.
Tuesday has also been proclaimed a day of mourning in the Veneto
region, with flags on public buildings at half mast.
"Today, on the day of Giulia Cecchettin's funeral, I ask the
entire Veneto region to send a collective signal, loud and
clear, against gender violence," said Veneto Governor Luca Zaia
on social media. "(It must be) A day that becomes indelible,
that marks a step forward so that events like this might never
happen again," he added.
On Monday night the headquarters of the regional government were
lit up in red in memory of all victims of femicide.
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