Back in April a 68-year-old woman named Rinia Chitanie was raped by a culture-enricher in Buitenveldert, a district of Amsterdam. Afterwards the perpetrator beat his victim so badly that she went into a coma, and was unrecognizable to her family.

In June the family decided to take her off life support, and she died. In practical terms, she had been kicked to death.

Public outrage about the incident was compounded by the government’s plan to open a residence for illegal migrants in the same neighborhood, where most of the residents are senior citizens.

Below are four videos about the heinous incident, and the public reaction to it. Many thanks to C for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling.

The first video reports on various reactions to the brutal attack:

In the second video Femke Halsema (Green Left, formerly Communist), the mayor of Amsterdam, is interviewed about the attack on Ms. Chitanie:

The third video chronicles a protest by local residents about the new residence for illegal immigrants:

The final video features interviews with witnesses and a representative of the police:

The article below was published in June after the victim was allowed to die. Many thanks to FouseSquawk for translating this piece from the Algemeen Dagblad:

Woman (68), Beaten and Raped, Dies in Amsterdam A 68-year-old woman who was victim of a severe beating in Amsterdam on Easter Monday died yesterday of her injuries. A 20-year-old suspect is in custody. June 11, 2019 The suspect has since confessed that he beat and raped the woman. The investigation, which continues as a sex crime [investigation], made the TV program Opsporing Verzocht [Investigation/Search for Clues Requested] on Tuesday. On April 21 around 9:30pm the police received a report from residents in Geervliet, who heard screams outside. Witnesses also say a man was beating on “something”. That turned out later to be the woman. Officers sped to the Geervliet and shortly thereafter found her seriously beaten and unconscious. The police were able to quickly arrest the suspect nearby. The victim, Rinia Carlien Hazra Chitanie, who worked as a doctor in the Ministry of Defense, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. There she lay in a coma for weeks. She was so disfigured that her family members didn’t even recognize her in the hospital. Yesterday, the family decided to let her life end. The prospects for recovery were minimal. Gijlsbrecht It is not clear where and how the suspect and the woman came together. It is important for the investigation and relatives to learn more, the police say. What they suspect : The woman probably left her residence on the Rhijnestein in Buitenveldert around 9:15 pm. She walked in the direction of the Gijlsbrecht van Aemstelpark and turned right there just before the bridge. Because of this, she was walking parallel to the park and the water. How the woman continued walking is not clear. The police want to talk with anyone who saw Chitanie walking, they tell Opsporing Verzocht. The woman is about 1:50 meters tall, of Surinamese origin, and wore black half-high shoes with white soles and light-colored, vertical stripes, black pants, light T-shirt and a black and white shoulder bag.

Witnesses The investigators are also looking for people who saw or spoke to the suspect. Prior to the incident, he spoke with other people, among others a young woman, presumably about 30 years old. The police know that he also had a chat with a couple. He supposedly met the man and woman in the Gijlsbrecht van Aemstelpark. They had a plastic bag and possibly had been shopping in the shopping center at Gelderland Square. The conversation was probably in broken Dutch, the police said.

Video transcript #1:

00:00 68-year-old Rinia Chitani from Buitenveldert was assaulted and raped without warning on Easter Day. 00:07 She ended up in hospital. Her family could not identify her, due to her wounds. 00:13 They said she had been assaulted, beaten up. Her facial bones were broken. 00:19 Her ribs were broken, and she had a serious brain injury. 00:24 She succumbs to her wounds. A 20-year-old refugee is arrested, 00:28 and today appeared in court for the first time. 00:31 His motive is unclear; it seems he chose a victim at random. 00:37 Many neighbors attended the hearing. —I’m shocked. 00:41 Just shocked. —The man entered the room with a smile on his face. 00:45 The suspect showed little remorse. 00:48 According to his lawyer, the man may have had a psychotic break during the incident. 00:53 He also threatened another person in the neighborhood. 00:56 by saying: “I can see you there on the third floor with your little lamp. 01:00 I’m coming for you, and I’ll kill you.” 01:03 The man had been treated for a year at Arkin, a mental health clinic. 01:09 The court decided today that he needs further psychological evaluation. 01:12 When the judge asked how he felt about this, his reaction was: 01:16 “Can we take a break? I’d like to have a smoke.” 01:19 People in that area don’t feel safe since the incident. 01:22 The city council’s decision to assign a 24/7 shelter for illegals to the area 01:28 does not lessen these fears. They fear more people with psychological problems. 01:34 What I think is, they have to be examined. 01:38 You can’t just randomly, just assign them? That’s not acceptable. 01:43 That’s like having an asylum for the criminally insane in a mall. That’s my opinion. 01:47 The next session will be held on September 19.



Video transcript #2:

00:00 Unrest in Buitenveldert, after the murder of the 68-year-old Rinia. 00:04 Does the Stopera [city hall] have any consideration for boroughs outside the ring? 00:08 Welcome, this is “conversation with the mayor”. 00:11 “The mayor” 00:17 Mrs Halsema, welcome. —Thank you. Let’s talk about that horrible murder, 00:22 initially termed aggravated assault, on April 21. 00:26 This week Rinia Chitanie succumbed to her wounds. 00:31 Many people in Geervliet witnessed it. —Yes, it’s horrendous. 00:36 Yes, it’s a terrible murder. Or… or… I don’t know yet what the verdict will be. 00:43 Yes, and it was an older woman who was well-known in the neighborhood, so it’s to be expected 00:48 that that community is deeply shocked. 00:52 Yes. And maybe also because, we’ve heard an initial statement from the suspect, 00:59 he also sexually abused the victim, 01:02 and it seems very random, which may feed feelings of insecurity. 01:09 I don’t know the details, because the investigation is ongoing. 01:14 The ministry is investigating of course. But we don’t 01:17 know the details, we have to await the court’s verdict. 01:20 But… it scares people. 01:23 Because it happened in her own neighborhood, a place where many older people live, 01:27 and he apparently lived in the neighborhood, or hung around there. 01:30 Did you talk to the family, or are you planning to do that? 01:34 We contacted them, but they are busy with funeral arrangements. I hope to visit them next week. 01:41 Is there anything you can do for the neighborhood, apart from waiting on the investigation? 01:47 Well, next week we want… I’ve heard, in that neighborhood, there are… 01:51 there are concerns about the parks. Aren’t they too dark, hasn’t it become too unsafe. 01:56 So, we want to inspect the park together with police, 01:59 to see if bushes need to be trimmed, if extra lighting is required. 02:05 This will happen next week. OK. Many details about this case have already been made public. 02:10 in order to track down… to solve it. 02:17 But, what some people maybe found sloppy 02:24 is that only this week it became known the attacker was an asylum seeker, with a residency permit. 02:31 They had the impression that this information was kept from them. 02:35 It just happened that a week earlier we published statistics relating to refugees and incidents. 02:41 We feel no need to keep anything from the public. But we care about being conscientious. 02:45 The ministry of public affairs never discloses anything but gender, age and city of a suspect, 02:55 and… it would be very irresponsible to suddenly deviate from that. 02:59 Yes, but do you understand the sentiment? —Yes, of course. 03:02 I understand that people are worried, and afraid. 03:05 But it is in the interest of the legal proceedings that we are careful now [about what we reveal]. 03:12 and that we await the results of the investigation. And in general 03:16 you could say, people think: asylum seekers are often traumatised. 03:20 Does the government have sufficient capability to monitor them? 03:24 This [the rapist] is a [real] Amsterdammer, with a residency permit. Umm… 03:29 I don’t know. I really don’t know what happened here. It’s just a hor-ren-dous incident. Umm…. 03:35 And… that it raises questions, that’s to be expected. 03:39 But at the same time, we have to be careful with facts, and be a little discreet. 03:44 Maybe my next question will help to clear things up in this respect as well. 03:48 because this man is here legally. In Buitenveldert there’s also 03:51 the issue of the 24-hour shelter for illegals 03:54 that is planned. So there’s already unrest, and now there’s this as well. 03:58 You understand that this will raise even more questions. 04:02 That has already happened, of course. Several political parties linked the two, and I have to say 04:08 that I have a problem with that. That residents of the neighborhood are worried; 04:12 I can understand that. But linking two separate issues — I find that a bit problematic. 04:19 Umm, that shelter will be opened next fall, so that’s only in the fall of 2020. 04:27 What Alderman Groot-Wassink told me was, this will be monitored very closely. 04:34 And that shelter is intended especially to increase security. 04:38 because we’re talking about people who would otherwise live on the streets. 04:41 Because these are people who indeed should not to be here, but can’t be deported, 04:45 and who in all other cases would sleep in our parks, 04:48 on our streets, because there’s no place for them. 04:51 So what the council, and Alderman Groot-Wassink is trying to do, is, by offering shelter, 04:57 to offer some structure and safety. And, um, I find it problematic that these issues 05:03 are so easily linked, at least by politicians. 05:06 Yes, because the fear in that neighborhood is that 05:10 they don’t know who will end up in these shelters. 05:13 But you’re saying they will be taken in, monitored and coached. 05:18 Yes, absolutely. In the shelters there will be coaching, there will be monitoring… 05:23 umm… and it’d be good to emphasize, this will be the in fall of 2020; there’s nothing at this moment. 05:31 But I understand there will be a debate in the council about this issue next week. 05:35 Yes, it’s my understanding FvD and VVD want link these two issues. 05:41 I have to say I find this problematic. It’s a terrible thing that happened, 05:47 but the shelter for rejected illegals, which opens at the end of next year. 05:52 has, in itself, nothing to do with this incident. 05:55 Now for something different: you’ve been mayor of Amsterdam for a year now. 06:00 Ten and a half months, to be exact. 06:03 12 July, right? So it’s eleven months. 06:07 I remember that during your maiden speech, you talked about. 06:13 one of your challenges, that you’d like to listen to citizens who have no voice at the moment. 06:19 the [underground] North-South line was a good symbol of this. How did these conversations turn out? 06:26 Well, I spend a relatively large amount of time in South-East [black area], New-West [Muslim area]. 06:33 and North. I try to make good on the pledge I made in my maiden speech. 06:39 And in South-East I’ve worked mostly on youth issues, in New-West on women’s issues. 06:47 and in North on the position of, let’s say the older Amsterdammers. And, umm… 06:53 Is it possible to pigeonhole [the population] by area? 06:56 No, but I linked such a theme to each area for myself, in order to 07:01 have more understanding of outlying areas, and also of groups that sometimes are struggling, 07:09 for example, in South-East. In general, you could say about the areas outside the ring.



Video transcript #3:

00:09 What is planned here in Buitenveldert? —The plans have been known, indirectly, since October. 00:15 The council has decided that in the former fire department building, 00:18 70 undocumented people [illegals] will be housed. 00:22 Mostly young men, let’s say aged between 20 and 35. 00:27 We live here. 70% are women over 70. 00:33 They live here within view of the fire department building. 00:36 You know what’s in store for you, with the new neighbors, right? —Yes, it’s terrible. 00:40 What did you say? —You mean over there? 00:43 Yes, here. —Yes, I live across from it, it’s terrible. 00:46 We have the right to a safe old age. The council is taking that away from us. 00:51 They’re not allowed to work, not allowed to re-integrate. They have to work on “goals”. 00:56 The council is twisting the rules even more. 01:02 They’re saying they might reconsider and let them stay in the Netherlands. 01:05 So their applications were repeatedly rejected, but the council says we’re considering letting them 01:09 go through the procedure again. —So how are they earning their keep? 01:12 They’re not making any money, they’re not allowed to work, they’re getting… 01:15 How do they eat? —They get €50 a week from the government, so from us. 01:19 But that’s not enough to survive. —No, I don’t think so either. 01:22 80% of these people have to return, after the procedures they want to start up again. 01:29 One of the members of the group “Here to Stay” has been here for 24 years; 01:33 even he says: “after those eighteen months, then what?” 01:37 He’s gone through [application] procedures for 24 years. 01:40 They have psychological problems, of course. One in three undocumenteds 01:43 commits an act of violence, and one in five asylum seekers. And 70 of these people 01:48 will be housed in a neighborhood full of senior citizens. 01:52 They rip up their documents, so they can’t be returned. Where would you send them? 01:58 Yes, it’s really an unsolvable problem so far. In our street, the Geervliet, 02:02 a woman was sexually assaulted, raped I should say, and murdered. 02:07 And the rapist was an asylum seeker. —So it was somebody who is here illegally? 02:12 Yes, but now, at this moment, he is allowed [condoned] to stay. 02:15 So, this man is allowed to stay here in the Netherlands? —Yes. Well, for five years. 02:21 So he’s allowed to go around here and rape for the next five years. —That’s my understanding, yes. 02:26 But he’s locked up right now, so he can’t rape for the time being. 02:29 He raped her; she was literally kicked to death. 02:33 She fell into a coma, and last Monday her family decided 02:37 to give her rest and let her pass away. She was raped, resulting in death. 02:43 The gentleman is 20 years old. Well, I don’t understand it, 02:47 because the lady was 67. It’s a strange world. 02:51 Hang on, [Mayor] Femke Halsema thought of a solution, 02:55 which is what you mentioned, the bushes will be trimmed a bit. 02:59 Yes, she says it’s the bushes’ fault. Suddenly the bushes did it! 03:03 It’s the illegal who did it! —Well, listen, what little bushes are here!? Looking at 03:10 where that lady was assaulted, there are no bushes at all. It’s low there. 03:15 below a tall flat, so that has nothing to do with it. 03:19 What nonsense is this!? Let’s trim the bushes and the immigration problem is solved!? 03:24 Then the rape hotspot is gone! —Oh, piss off. 03:27 Madam Halsema, you’re working for the Amsterdammers. The real Amsterdammers. 03:34 And not for the illegals, not for the undocumented! Let them go home! 03:40 Give us our tranquility, our freedom, us faithful taxpayers. 03:45 Return to us our freedom, which is our birthright! 03:48 Hear, hear! Hear, hear!



Video transcript #4: