A Jewish prayer will be read at the funeral of a British backpacker who was murdered in Australia last week.
Although Mia Ayliffe-Chung, who was fatally stabbed at a hostel in Queensland last Tuesday, was not Jewish, her family are keen for a Hebrew text to be included as part of a multi-faith ceremony.
Detectives have played down terrorism as a motive for the killing, despite reports that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the stabbing.
The service will also feature an excerpt from the Koran to counter the “misrepresentation” of her killing as an act of terrorism, according to the murdered woman’s mother, Rosie Ayliffe.
It will also include a Sikh reading and a Buddhist ritual.
Earlier today it was revealed that fellow Briton Thomas Jackson, 30, has died from injuries he sustained while trying to protect Miss Ayliffe-Chung.
Smail Ayad, 29, from France, has been charged with the pair’s murder.
Writing in The Independent, Ms Ayliffe explained that her daughter, , was “essentially Buddhist in outlook” and believed in reincarnation and other tenets of the faith. “We have therefore decided on a prolonged, reverberating note from a Buddhist singing bowl to signify the beginning and end of a meditation on life and death,” she added.
In a previous blog post for the newspaper site, Ms Ayliffe, from Wirksworth in Derbyshire, said that she planned to scatter her daughter’s ashes around the world in order for her to continue her travels.
The Jewish input will be delivered by Mark Glanville, a Jewish opera singer and friend of the family.
Police are investigating the suggestion that Smail may have been obsessed with the victim. This theory has been backed by John Norris, the owner of the hostel where the murder took place.