Published: Less than 20 min ago
Every day, Soliana’s four-year-old little brother asks when big sister is coming home.
Every day that question breaks mother Lemlem’s heart anew.
Because Soliana will never come back – she was found dead under a balcony, three months pregnant.
– How do you explain to a small child what it means that someone is gone forever? wonders Lemlem.
Soliana turned 21 years old. Photo: Private
Lemlem’s phone rang at midnight on January 31 this year.
It was daughter Soliana, 21 years old.
She never used to call so late so Lemlem answered right away.
In the background, someone was heard screaming and Soliana said to her mother: “Mother, he is not good for me. He is mean to me.”
Then the call was disconnected and when Lemlem tried to call again, no signals came through.
Lemlem’s partner hurried towards the apartment in Jakobsberg where the boyfriend was currently living. But when he arrived, the place was cordoned off and an ambulance and police were already on the scene.
A few hours later, Lemlem is standing in a hospital corridor in Solna.
– I said I wanted to see my daughter. I screamed, I was so desperate. All I wanted was to see her. But I didn’t get that. I never got to see her again.
That same night, Soliana’s boyfriend, a 29-year-old man, was arrested on probable cause on suspicion of pushing or throwing Soliana from the fifth-floor balcony. He himself says that he is innocent and that Soliana’s death was an accident. But the investigation, which is now in its fourth week, is still classified as murder.
– During the course of the investigation, the suspicions have strengthened, says chamber prosecutor Henrik Stiernblad.
On the living room table in the apartment in Fittja, Eritrean dishes are presented. A woman, a friend of Lemlem’s, sits on a chair, brewing coffee in the traditional way and serving it in small cups.
Another friend of Lemlem explains that according to their culture, no one who mourns is left alone, so the friends take turns in a constant stream of hugs and comforting words. Lemlem can’t go to the job at the hair salon right now.
It’s hard to take care of customers when tears are constantly burning behind the eyes and when every thing reminds of the daughter you lost and the fact that she will never come back.
– Soliana was so incredibly caring, even as a four-year-old in Eritrea she helped me with her younger siblings, she helped me at work, she wanted everyone well, says Lemlem.
One of Soliana’s four brothers fills in:
– She was someone who clicked with everyone immediately. If you had met her, you would have clicked. She had such a bright future.
Soliana came with her siblings to Sweden in 2017 to connect with mother Lemlem who arrived two years earlier.
Once here, Soliana quickly learned the language. Last year she graduated, and she dreamed of working as a make-up artist.
The family describes her as a “home girl”. She enjoyed being with her family and when Lemlem had another son in 2019, Soliana was overjoyed.
– She became like his second mother. She tattooed his name on one of her fingers. If she wasn’t home, they FaceTimed each other. He asks every day when Soliana will come home again. I don’t know how to explain, says Lemlem.
In 2022, Soliana met the 29-year-old man. She fell in love and Lemlem got to meet him and his family.
– He seemed nice, but I didn’t think she would be in such a hurry. She was so young.
Neither Soliana nor her family knew that the new boyfriend had previously been convicted of a crime.
– Now in retrospect we see signs that he probably tried to hide his background from Soliana. He was very controlling and never wanted her to meet his friends. When they saw each other, it was always the two of them. Had she known, she might never have been together with him, says Lemlem.
One day Soliana told them they were getting married. The wedding was to take place in May this year.
But Soliana’s family tried make her change her mind.
They had begun to suspect that the relationship was destructive. The 29-year-old appeared to be very jealous and they sometimes had to pick up Soliana when she had marks on her face and was upset.
One of Soliana’s brothers says he tried to get her to report it to the police but she didn’t want to.
She was also expecting a child with the 29-year-old.
– She really wanted to be a mother, says Lemlem.
What happened in the apartment in Jakobsberg on January 31 this year, no one really knows yet. The investigation is ongoing and the 29-year-old has now been in custody for four weeks and will remain in custody until charges are filed on March 16.
– We are now mapping the relationship between the parties, what circumstances exist around them historically. That includes, for example, whether there is information about previous violence and convictions, says chamber prosecutor Henrik Stiernblad.
Falls from balconies in particular are notoriously difficult to investigate. There are several examples of young women being thrown from balconies in an attempt to make a murder look like a suicide.
The lack of injuries to the body other than those caused by the fall, and the lack of witnesses, make them difficult to assess and experts believe the death toll is high.
Soliana herself was so bad there when the ambulance arrived that her version could never be heard.
But in the investigation, information has emerged that the fall from the balcony was preceded by some kind of conflict and the resident must have heard a woman’s scream and then the sound of a thump.
And now the suspect The 29-year-old is also said to have been seen on the balcony in connection with the case.
– We are still investigating three hypotheses. Is it an accident, is it self-inflicted, or is it murder? The suspicions against the man have, however, strengthened during the course of the investigation for reasons covered by preliminary investigation confidentiality, says Stiernblad.
For Soliana’s family, it is important to know what happened. Was it an accident as the 29-year-old says, and if so how could it happen?
– Soliana was so careful. I can’t imagine that she would be out on the balcony and put herself in danger, says Lemlem.
Or was she murdered by the man she was going to have a baby with this summer?
– Nothing will bring her back to us. But if someone has done this to her, he will have his punishment. You shouldn’t be able to do this to a person who had his whole life ahead of him.
On February 16, Soliana was buried, surrounded by family and friends.