“I am honoured to be her little sister.”
Slain schoolgirl Masa Vukotic’s sister, Nadja, fought back tears as she spoke of the pain in knowing she would not get to see her big sister blossom into the woman she was becoming.
“But we can look into the stars at night and into the hearts and minds of everyone here and see a little bit of her,” she said.
Mourners gathered at a Springvale cemetery to pay tribute to the life of teenager, killed in a suburban park last week.
Coats and handbags in pink – 17-year-old Masa’s favourite colour – brighten the dark tones of the otherwise funereal dress, with her friends using pink ribbon to tie back their hair in memory of the “princess of pink”, as her mother and best friend fondly described her. Dozens of bouquets of pink flowers filled the waiting hearse. There were so many, even the roof of the car was lined with floral tributes.
The ceremony on Thursday morning at J.A. Boyrd Chapel at Springvale Botanical Cemetery is open to the public and a large number of people are expected to pay their respects.
The service heard Masa was an inspiring young woman to all those who knew her.
In a statement prepared by the family and read to the more than 500 guests spilling out of two chapels, she was remembered for her love of dance, reading, travelling and all things pink.
Masa also had an unrivalled love of fashion, dating back to her earliest years playing dress up with her mother. On a recent trip to Montenegro and Paris, she packed four coats so she would not be repeatedly photographed in the same one. She also joked with her mum, Natasa, that she looked forward to sipping lattes in a designer suit when she became a lawyer.
The Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College student was killed a little more than a week ago while on her nightly walk in Doncaster. Stabbed to death in daylight, Masa died in the arms of police and paramedics less than a kilometre from home – literally around the corner – in Koonung Creek Linear Park.
She leaves behind a grieving father, mother, sister and brother, and a far-reaching community of friends who have come to say goodbye.
Sean Christian Price, 31, is charged with murder and a string of offences committed while on the run from Victoria Police, but this day is not about him. It is about Masa.
The teenager has also inadvertently become a symbol of something larger than her shocking death.
The most obvious was the immediate anger and sadness at what had happened. Then there was the talkback and twitter fuelled invective levelled at a Victoria Police homicide detective for suggesting women “shouldn’t be alone in parks”. Beyond the back and forth of that “victim-blaming” skirmish there were expressions of love and devotion and grief from all comers.
Candlelight vigils were held in the Doncaster park. Facebook profile pictures began to turn pink, her favourite colour. An online community petitioned Manningham City Council to paint pink the bridge over the Eastern Freeway from the Konnung Creek Linear Park.
People independently organised walks in parks together in Mulgrave, Oakleigh South and Caroline Springs.
A public event devoted to a girl who was an enthusiastic member of a costume play community will be held at Queen Victoria Gardens on St Kilda Road on Saturday. The dress code for Princess Marci’s Royal Parade is simple: “Pink. Lolita Japanese fashion. Rabbit related.”
And in two weeks time there will be a rally on behalf of Enough is Enough, protesting against the perceived failings of the judicial system.
But the most personal of the tributes are sure to come on Thursday morning as those who knew her mix with strangers and share their grief.
