Nearly three thousand people gathered in Versailles

Some 2,800 people attended the funeral Friday afternoon of Philippine, the 19-year-old student killed and found dead in the Bois de Boulogne on Saturday, at the Saint-Louis cathedral in Versailles, noted an AFP journalist. His murder sparked debate and emotion across the country because of the criminal and administrative background of the suspect, a 22-year-old Moroccan, convicted of rape and awaiting deportation.

The light wooden coffin of the young woman, a student at Paris-Dauphine University, was brought inside shortly before 1 p.m., preceded by a procession and accompanied by her family. Chants then rose up from inside the building.

“There to cry, to pray”

Around 1,800 people were present at the church and 1,000 on the square, according to a police source. “We are here to cry, to pray,” declared Abbot Pierre-Hervé Grosjean in his homily, distributed to the press outside the cathedral.

The priest also recalled Philippine’s religious commitment, particularly within her parish and the Scouts and Guides of France. The already compact crowd on the square has thickened since the start of the funeral. Some on the square pray, kneeling on the paving stones.

To support the family

Dressed in black, Andréa Brandao, 20, came alone to attend the funeral because she feels “hugely concerned and out of love for the family”. This law and history student at Nanterre did not know Philippine personally, but says she counts one of her close friends among her best friends.

“I found it important to come here to reflect and pay my respects,” said Julia, 15, a student of Philippine’s mother at the Saint-Exupéry high school, who came to attend the funeral in the company of her mother. The young girl clutches a small bouquet of white and purple flowers in her fingers. “It was important to come and support the whole family, we have children his age and we all feel concerned by this tragedy,” adds his mother, Anouck.

At the corner of the square where the cathedral stands, two Versailles residents who preferred to remain anonymous confided that they wanted to be there “as believers and as women”. The mass was celebrated by Father Pierre-Hervé Grosjean, parish priest of Montigny-Voisins, of which Philippine was one of the faithful.

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