Family initially thought the international student was kidnapped or had fallen while returning home to Bundoora from a comedy show

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Noor Maasarwe was watching the news in Israel when she realised that her missing sister, Aiia, had been found dead in Melbourne.

“I [saw] in the news that they found a body. They didn’t say for who it was,” Maasarwe told Nine News on Sunday from Israel.

“But it matches all the details. It was on the same road. Everything. I was just praying that it’s not her.

“But then I saw the shoes and her phone ... and I was sure it was her.”

The family initially thought the 21-year-old international student was kidnapped or had fallen while returning home from a comedy show late on Tuesday.

Her body was found the following morning within a kilometre of where she was living in Bundoora.

‘It’s just horrific’: feeling of deja vu as Melbourne mourns for Aiia Maasarwe Read more

Hundreds were expected to gather at the site, now adorned in flowers and messages, on Sunday.

“There is never going to be a good enough, rational reason that explains why someone would take the life of another person, one full of life, happy and innocently trusting the streets of their community to walk home and end up the way poor Aiia has,” a social media post for the event said.

“We ask everyone to ensure they come with a peaceful mindset, this is not a march, but a peaceful gathering to ensure the message to those who insist on behaving with such disregard and disrespect for others is not acceptable.”

The event was one of several which have been organised in memory of Maasarwe, a Palestinian Arab of Israeli citizenship.

Overnight, about 1,000 people gathered outside a mosque in Israel calling for the quick return of Maasarwe’s body.

“The Land Wants Aiia Back,” read some of the placards, while others called for an end to violence against women across the globe.

They chanted “we need Aiia home”, “we are all Aiia’s sister’s, Aiia is the daughter of all of us”.

Masaarwe’s body remained with the Victorian coroner. A Victorian government spokesperson said the coroner was working as “quickly as possible”.

“We understand how important it is to the family for Aiia to go home,” they said. “We are working with the coroner, Victoria police and victims support agencies to expedite this process.”

A 20-year-old man faced the Melbourne magistrates’ court on Saturday charged with Masaarwe’s rape and murder.

The man has been remanded to reappear in the same court on Monday.