Love Notes For Roya

Roya Mohammadi’s body was found in the West River after she filed multiple police reports against her uncle. Two years later, activists gathered to write love notes for Mohammadi and tie them to the branches of a cherry tree, while calling on the West Haven Police Department to further investigate the circumstances of her death.

Mohammadi was a 29-year-old Afghan immigrant, student, translator, and Havenly Fellow. Since her death, Vivan Las Autónomas — a group fighting gender-based violence in Connecticut — has not stopped calling for the arrest of Mohammadi’s uncle and the identification of her death as a domestic violence-related homicide. 

As Mohammadi’s birthday approached this year, Vivan Las Autónomas co-founder Vanesa Suarez found herself looking for new ways to grieve. She said she likes immersive activities because they allow people to use their whole bodies to move through emotions. 

On Monday evening, Vivan Las Autónomas delivered over 200 signed postcards to the West Haven City Council calling on municipal leaders to investigate what they consider to be the police department’s negligence in Mohammadi’s case. Then, Suarez stayed behind with the group to write love notes to Mohammadi and tie them to the branches of a cherry tree outside of West Haven City Hall — two days before Mohammadi would have turned 32. 

Michael Jackson’s classic ​‘80s hits mixed with smooth tunes from Iranian singer Googoosh and a song from the soundtrack to Indian romance-thriller Dil Se as Suarez and Nika Zarazvand, also a co-founder of Vivan Las Autónomas, played some of Mohammadi’s favorite music from a speaker they placed on the steps of City Hall. Attendees gave excited shouts when they recognized lyrics from their own childhood, singing along and passing paper hearts and string to each other.

Small electronic tea lights dotted the tree like stars as sunset melted into a cool night sky. People took breaks from writing to walk around the cherry blossoms, reading each others’ notes of love, indignation, and promises to keep going. Back at the building’s steps, attendees chatted about Roya, the music she loved, and the postcards they had just delivered. Some of the attendees knew Roya personally, while others learned her name at some point in the last two years through advocacy.

Vivan Las Autónomas is a group made up of not just organizers, but also of artists, and their efforts reflect the importance of human touch in moving through difficult moments together. It felt significant to watch the cherry tree become more beautiful throughout the night as more and more words appeared among its flowers. When I asked the night’s vigil attendees about their experience inside City Hall, one note that kept coming up was the sound of Roya’s mother’s voice.

Along with the postcards, Vivan Las Autonómas had also given the City Council two personal messages from Roya’s family, who had lived in Afghanistan for most of the movement for Roya and have now fled to Tajikistan. One message, from Roya’s mother, Lailoma Mohammadi, alleged negligence on the part of the West Haven Police Department (WHPD). ​“It has been two years since the West Haven police made any progress or took action,” she stated. ​“I question whether West Haven police are complicit in this crime.”

The other letter, from Roya’s brother, Mohammad Fayaz Mohammadi, outlined a list of demands, including ​“a thorough, impartial investigation into the true circumstances of [Roya’s] death.” Vivan Las Autónomas delivered these messages in both audio and written form.

Neither the WHPD nor West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer responded to a request for comment by the publication time of this article. In a comment to the New Haven Register, Borer said, ​“We would all like to see the case resolved. … It has not been an easy case.” According to Hearst, Borer criticized the group for demanding answers during Monday’s meeting but leaving before officials could respond, toward the end of the roughly two-hour meeting. According to NBC Connecticut, police dismissed allegations of negligence on their part as baseless.

Over the next two weeks, Vivan Las Autónomas is gearing up to file an official police complaint alleging negligence on the part of the WHPD. They are gathering documentation from members of their group who have been in contact with the investigators of Roya’s case for the past two years. They are also collecting screenshots from conversations with Roya’s family members, who Vivan Las Autónomas says have been trying to provide evidence for Roya’s case only to allegedly not be taken seriously by the police.

The love notes for Roya on the tree outside of West Haven City Hall were a comforting sight for the night’s participants, and they also served as a statement to the West Haven City Council, as they declared that the defenders of ​“Las Autónomas” would not back down quietly. One note, fluttering in the wind, read, ​“2 years without justice. 2 years without you. We will never stop fighting for you, raising our voices to say your name.”