Mourners gather in Padua for funeral of Giulia Cecchettin

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 5 - Mourners gathered at the Basilica of San Giustina in Padua on Tuesday morning for the funeral of Giulia Cecchettin, the 22-year-old killed by her former boyfriend, 21-year-old Filippo Turetta, on November 11.
    Organisers expected up to 10,000 people to pay their last respects to the slain Padua university biomedical engineering student whose brutal murder has shocked the nation and put the issue of femicide and gender-based violence in Italy centre stage.
    Just under 1,200 mourners could be accommodated in the basilica itself, with the rest watching on big screens in Prato della Valle and live on television.
    Lessons have been suspended at Padua university where Cecchettin was due to graduate on November 16, and the rector Daniela Mapelli will attend the funeral.
    Tuesday has also been proclaimed a day of mourning in the Veneto region, with flags on public buildings at half mast.
    "Today, on the day of Giulia Cecchettin's funeral, I ask the entire Veneto region to send a collective signal, loud and clear, against gender violence," said Veneto Governor Luca Zaia on social media. "(It must be) A day that becomes indelible, that marks a step forward so that events like this might never happen again," he added.
    On Monday night the headquarters of the regional government were lit up in red in memory of all victims of femicide. (ANSA).