Ethiopia Miss World contestant mourns murdered sister

Ethiopian Miss World contestant Ruth Yirgalem Weldesilasie says she is turning grief over her sister's killing into a platform to speak about violence against women and girls.

Ruth, 25, is representing Ethiopia at the Miss World pageant in Nha Trang, Vietnam, where 111 contestants gathered for Saturday night's final. Her 29-year-old elder sister, Kidusan Yirgalem Weldesilasie, was abducted for ransom this summer while Ruth was preparing for the contest. Kidusan was later found dead in late July.

Local media have reported that Ruth's ex-boyfriend and Kidusan's partner are among 10 arrested suspects.

Ruth told AFP she wanted to use the pageant to highlight the treatment of women in Ethiopia. "I'm going to change my pain to my purpose," she said.

Her social impact work focuses on children's mental wellbeing and maternal health. She also pointed to wider problems affecting women and girls in Ethiopia, including child marriage and female genital mutilation.

UN data cited by AFP shows nearly 20 million women in Ethiopia were married or in a union before age 18, and female genital mutilation rates are nearly 50 percent among women aged 15 to 49. A petition calling on Ethiopia's government to declare violence against women a national crisis has received nearly 170,000 signatures.

Ruth said travelling to Vietnam while mourning was difficult, but that she wanted women to see a way forward despite hardship.