As we remember our sister, Rita, whose remains were found 6 years ago 300 metres away from what she called her “home”, and as the number of femicide cases increases every day. We would like to let Rita’s family and friends know that we will not rest until we know who is responsible for her unexpected brutal murder.

Since then there has been no progress in the investigation, and only a racist statement from the public prosecutor in Cottbus, in which Rita’s death is described as an “African ritual death”. We are quoting the text of her friends to show that Rita was a woman who lived in this society and that her case must be considered and investigated like all femicide cases in this society.

The message below is from friends and women who knew Rita. They attended the memorial two years after her murder.

“It is over two years since your life was brutally cut short, the tragic and ruthless murder which is still fatal and overlooked. We have come to this hallowed spot to remind everyone of the fierce urgency of rising up against the secret racial injustices.

on April 7th 2019 our world stopped when we heard the devastating news of disappearing of beloved Rita. we were hopeful that you (Rita) were somewhere alive but you never came back, we waited as we pleaded with the Authority in Hohenleipisch to help in search of your whereabouts but was met with ignorance and deliberation. Three months passed by and then the saddest news that you are no more was heartbreaking to all of us who were close to you. The fact that your killer was shameless to even damp your lifeless body very close to where you lived and the unwillingness of the Deutche Polizei to find you was an anguish to this date.

When the news came out that, human remains were found in the deep bushy jungles in the remote

area of Southern Brandenburg, was humiliating and the anger we felt for being so helpless even in your death as your killer left you laying in the wilderness is still much alive, though it’s not unusual for refugees to live in such isolated areas in the middle of nowhere, away from life, it also intensified the question of how save is it for women and children living in such areas. the ignorance of this asylum system on how to allocate especially women refugees and their children with safer housing is still a myth. Many people still ask how it happened because they never know how the place looks like or where it is located and even how isolated it is.

As we commemorate today, day against violence against Women, we, your closest Friends are in Grieve and saddened by the fact that someone took away your life and still walks freely because there was no justice for you. Though you are physically gone, your memory lives on and we miss your smile every day. We are still demanding for answers as to why the case is paralyzed, why there is no justice for the young Mother whose life was stolen away and her small children left without a mom. There will be neither rest nor tranquillity until Justice for Rita is granted. There are those asking, “when will we be quiet?” and our answer is, “we cannot be silent until justice for Rita is prevailed.

Justice delayed is justice denied and unless there is justice for Rita and her brutal killer punished, we will remain louder and louder! “