Monika Silva death investigation escalates as body transferred to Guayaquil

Activist Monika Silva’s remains are being moved from the forensic lab in Santa Elena to the laboratory in Guayaquil for further analysis, a step announced by human‑rights committee representative Fernando Bastias. The Ecuadorian Fiscalía will treat the case as femicide, following international protocols, according to Lita Martínez of the Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promoción y Acción de la Mujer.

Silva’s mother, Irena Hajduk, arrived in Montañita from Poland with the Polish consul in Lima, Adam Bozjko, to oversee the proceedings. Local residents and the Montañita communal council have offered a plot in the community cemetery and a chapel‑ardent for a funeral, but the mother has not yet decided on a burial location. International observers are expected to monitor the forensic work in Guayaquil.

The case has drawn attention from human‑rights groups, with the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights joining as an oversight body, while the community stresses Silva’s connection to Montañita, where she lived for over a decade.