'We didn't keep her safe,' the Project host said. Photo / Channel 10
'We didn't keep her safe,' the Project host said. Photo / Channel 10
There wasn't a dry eye in the studio following Lisa Wilkinson's heartwrenching interview with the family of murdered student Aiia Maasarwe on Thursday night.
Sitting down with Aiia's grief-stricken father Saeed and sister Noor – mourning the loss of the jubilant 21-year-old student brutally killed by 21-year-old Codey Herrmann –their raw emotion cast a dark cloud over the studio, with the weeping hosts rendered speechless by her family's pain, reports news.com.au.
Lisa sat down with Aiia’s family to talk about how they want the world to remember their beautiful girl. pic.twitter.com/waL2mM3o6T
Herrmann showed no emotion when the sentence was read out.
Aiia's family's tears however, speak for the nation.
Her father wept throughout the interview, saying he 'would have given his daughter the moon'. Photo / Channel 10
Speaking to reporters outside court this week, Saeed said the pain of losing his daughter will never diminish.
"The pain inside is very big. She was happy. She was positive. She liked life. She liked to help anyone. She looked at people, doesn't matter which village and which nation and which colour," he said.
Tonight on The Project, he reiterated that the world has lost a "wonderful woman".
"Even her best friend in Melbourne here, she was very grateful that she had the chance to meet her and to learn from her. She was very grateful for that," he said of his daughter's time in Australia.
Saeed Maasarwe was immensely proud of his daughter for the mark she made during her time in Australia. Photo / Channel 10
Her sister, barely able to speak through her tears, wore a badge with a photo of Aiia.
She spoke of her plans to visit her sister studying abroad – maintaining that her first visit to Melbourne should have been under very different circumstances had it not been for her murder.
"Does that give you strength?," Wilkinson asked of the badge, to which Noor said, "She was supposed to be visiting with us – it is just a way to show as if I had brought her here."
Noor said she could 'never forgive' Herrmann for ripping her sister from the world. Photo / Channel 10
Herrmman wrote a letter of apology to the family, which was read out in court. He concluded his letter with the words, "Don't give in to hate, like I did."
When asked about the comment, Saeed said: "We don't hate the people. Never with don't hate the people. We wish the people just good. Even for him, we wish to be normal and to be positive people. We don't want anyone to be in this situation."
Sitting beside him, Noor said they "had to move forward" – for it's what Aiia would have wanted.
"There is no other direction. I don't think Aiia wants us to just to stay in the dark and be sad. She would be very sad if she sees that. She would want us to be happy and live in the moment and enjoy our life, just as what she did."
The painfully emotional segment reduced the entire panel to tears, a red-eyed Tommy Little unable to speak, while co-host Rachel Corbett dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
The mood was sombre in the studio after the heartbreaking report. Photo / Channel 10
Hamish McDonald – his face glistening with tears – addressed the audience on behalf of his co-hosts.
"It is really impossible to sort of say anything that means anything after viewing that. But I think it is fair to say that we all just feel so terribly sorry that we didn't keep her safe."
He continued: "Someone has come to our country, has made a contribution that is positive. We love that about our country, that people come and enjoy it and have a great experience and I don't know if Aiia's father and sister are watching this tonight (but) I hope they know how sorry we all are."
Aiia's family has set up a medical fellowship in her honour, which will provide financial support to Palestinian doctors training in Israeli hospitals.
There are also plans to open a memorial park near where Aiia's body was found, which will be called simply "Aiia's Park".
