Buildings in Amsterdam lit up orange following murder of Lisa

A minute’s silence has been held in Amsterdam for a 17-year-old girl who was stabbed to death as she cycled home from a night out a week ago.

The attack on Lisa in the early hours of August 20 sent shockwaves through the Netherlands and in her home town of Abcoude, where a summer festival began with a minute’s silence and the ringing of church bells.

Buildings across the Netherlands, including Amsterdam’s Centraal Station and Stadsschouwburg theatre and the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam, were lit up orange, the colour chosen by the United Nations to symbolise resistance to violence against women.

A crowdfunding campaign to promote women’s safety at night, Wij Eisen de Nacht Op (“reclaim the night”}, has raised more than €500,000 since it was launched on Monday.

Lisa’s family attended the minute’s silence in Abcoude, which ended with an outbreak of applause among the crowd.

A spokesman for the victim support organisation Names de Familie said they were “deeply touched” by the display of solidarity. “They feel supported and moved by the deep concern of the entire village.”

A 22-year-old asylum seeker who is believed to have been living at a nearby refugee accommodation centre has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Lisa and two other sexual assaults on women in the last fortnight.

Police said they had found a knife and mobile phone near the accommodation facility on Hogehilweg during a search on Tuesday.

The suspect appeared in court on Monday, where he was detained in custody for a further 14 days while the investigation continues. His identity still has to be confirmed.