March 1, Pozirk. The Belarusian woman who was raped in Warsaw has died in hospital, onet.pl reported, citing Barbara Mietkowska, a spokeswoman for the Medical University of Warsaw.
The immediate cause of death is listed as brain death.
Over the past few days, 547,817 zlotys ($134,400) of the 800,000 requested have been collected to help her. Over 10,400 people have donated their money.
The fundraiser was announced by the woman’s boyfriend. He said he was born in Ukraine and she was born in Belarus.
The woman was raped and nearly strangled in downtown Warsaw in the early morning of February 25. The victim was unconscious on a ventilator at the intensive care unit.
The woman moved to Warsaw after the 2020 protests in Belarus.
According to the Polish police, the 23-year-old alleged perpetrator was arrested in the evening of the same day. He is suspected of a sex crime, robbery and attempted murder with the use of a dangerous weapon.
The alleged perpetrator, wearing a balaclava, attacked the woman from behind. A security guard found her naked and unconscious and called the police.
“Police officers were at the crime scene minutes later. They called an ambulance and gave the victim first aid before its arrival. Due to the brutality of this crime, identifying and arresting the perpetrator was the priority for all police officers involved in the case,” the police said in a media release.
The alleged attacker was charged and taken into custody. The maximum punishment for such crimes in Poland is life imprisonment.
The attack sparked outrage on social media. Many pointed out that no one came to help the woman during the incident.
Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja commented the attack on her Telegram channel: “My thoughts are with the Belarusian girl Jelizavieta, who is now fighting for her life in a hospital in Warsaw.
“I sincerely wish her good health, and her loved ones – strength and patience to survive this misery.
“The girl is a victim of inexplicable and unjustifiable violence.
“I am grateful to the doctors, who are doing everything possible to save her life, and to the Polish police, who have already found and arrested the suspect.”
Belarusian diplomatic missions abroad have not received any requests or official reports regarding the woman’s death, the foreign ministry said, according to state media. Diplomats have sent inquiries to Polish law-enforcement agencies, it said.
