The funeral service for Toronto doctor Elana Fric-Shamji got underway Saturday morning, December 17, 2016, in Windsor.
Hundreds of people gathered at St. Francis of Assisi Croatian Church on Turner Road. Among the mourners were dozens of doctors who arrived by bus to set up an honour guard to remember the popular family physician.
Police believe Fric-Shamji was murdered after her remains were found in a suitcase on December 1, near an overpass in Vaughan just north of Toronto.
Fric-Shamji’s husband, neurosurgeon Dr. Mohammed Shamji, was charged with first degree murder on December 2. The couple had been married for twelve years.
Fric-Shamji grew up in Tecumseh and attended the University of Windsor before moving to Toronto, where she worked and raised her family.
Many of those attending the funeral mass wore a purple ribbon to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence.
