Police on duty (symbol image)
Photo: Carsten Rehder / DPA
For a trans woman from Berlin, the hostility apparently doesn't stop even after death.
As the Berlin police announced, strangers left a canister and a fire extinguisher on and next to the woman's grave.
A man had discovered the objects on Wednesday in the cemetery in the Lichtenberg district and notified the officials.
According to consistent reports, it is the resting place of Ella Nik Bayan, who set herself on fire on Alexanderplatz last September and then died.
The police said it was being investigated on suspicion of a "trans-hostile motivation for the crime, disturbing the peace of the dead and denigrating the memory of the deceased".
The objects that were denigrating were confiscated.
Association speaks of "hate crimes"
The Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) had already announced in a statement on Wednesday that Bayan's grave had been "desecrated" on January 1st and 4th.
"We are scared and angry that the transhobic violence against Ella continues even after her death," said the LSVD.
"The sight of her desecrated grave is unbearable." It is a "hate crime" that must also be punished as such, according to the association.
In response to a request from SPIEGEL, the police initially only confirmed investigations after the witness evidence on Wednesday.
However, the information provided by the association was known to the police, it said.
fek / AFP