These are the first pictures of the two women killed by a knifeman who went on a rampage at a Muslim religious centre in Lisbon.
Portuguese nationals Mariana Jadaugy, 24, and Farana Sadrudin, 49, were at the Ismaili Centre when an Afghan refugee named locally as Abdul Bashir entered with a large knife and fatally attacked them after seriously injuring his English teacher.
The father-of-three, whose wife is said to have died around a year ago, was taken to hospital after being shot in the leg by police responding to emergency calls who said they fired at him when he ignored orders to drop his weapon and started walking towards them.
Friends and well-wishers paid tribute today to the two women he allegedly killed, both workers at the centre.
It is not yet clear why the attack occurred, although the brother of a witness to the incident just before 11am yesterday said he had been told the knifeman turned on them after they tried to intervene as he stabbed his teacher.
Omed Taeri, president of the Association of the Afghan Community in Portugal, said the suspect had shown “signs of anxiety and desperation” at his daily struggle to be able to feed his children with the scarce resources he had.
But Portuguese president Marcelo Reblelo de Sousa, speaking after visiting the scene of the fatal double stabbing and speaking to the mother of the younger of the two women killed, said: “There is nothing that justifies a criminal act.”
The country’s PM Antonio Costa said everything pointed to it being an “isolated incident.”
Farana’s friend Gabriela Navalho described her loss as “irreparable”, adding: “Stay saved in me, your light, smile, our crazy conversations full of laughter. Rest in peace Farana Sadrudin. Strength to all your family and friends.”
Teresa Pinto added in an online tribute to Mariana: “How cruel this world can be.
“Portugal opens its arms to those in need and this is the payback.
“Mariana Jadaugy, you will always be in my heart as that happy, friendly and generous woman.”
The knifeman is now under police guard in Lisbon’s Sao Jose Hospital.
He had arrived in Portugal through a European Union program that transfers asylum-seekers to member countries to help relieve pressure on Mediterranean nations such as Greece and Italy, Portuguese government minister José Luis Carneiro said.
His wife is understood to have died in a refugee camp in Greece.
In a statement Rahim Firozali, the president of the National Council of the Muslim Ismaili Community said the armed man “attacked three people who were in the Ismaili Centre, killing two of them and wounding a third.”
The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, generally known as the Ismailis, belong to the Shia branch of Islam.
Members of the minority group have been attacked by extremist groups in countries such as Pakistan.
