Agnes Santisteban, 23, was killed while she was returning to her dormitory at Moscow's University of Culture and Arts after a stroll with friends. Her body was found Nov. 17 in a small park less than 100 yards outside the dormitory in northwestern Moscow.

The body, which was hidden under the snow, was discovered when the snow melted after a spell of warm weather. Police have launched an investigation.

"She was kidnapped, tortured and horribly raped," Peruvian Ambassador Pablo Portugal, who led the community during Friday's mourning ceremony, said. "It's a very sad day for all our community."

Members of the Peruvian community and fellow students attended a church service followed by cremation at a Moscow crematorium. The ashes will be flown home.

Santisteban's roommate, Bernaldina Pereira, 17, described her as a shy and "very calm" girl. She said that Santisteban spent most of her free time in her dormitory room, roaming the Internet and writing e-mails to her parents.

Pereira said that Santisteban, who came to Moscow in mid-September to study choreograph, had just started learning Russian and couldn't speak the language yet. "The only thing she could say in Russian was her address," Pereira said in an interview.

Pereira said that they were together at a cafe in downtown Moscow along with two other students on the evening of Nov. 8, when Santisteban grew impatient and said she had to go to the dormitory to communicate with her parents and do her homework.

Friends accompanied Santisteban to a nearby subway station — the last time they saw her alive.

Another friend and fellow university student of Santisteban, 19-year old Sandra Aliaga of Peru, who also was with her in the evening, said that Santisteban apparently was taking a shortcut through the woods when she was killed.

Aliaga recalled that Santisteban felt homesick when she came to Russia in September and even thought about leaving the university to go back home but later changed her mind. "She started to like it, and she wanted so much to become a choreographer," Aliaga said.

She said that Santisteban didn't know the city yet and was reluctant to go out, and the evening in a cafe was a rare adventure for her.

Orlando Becerra, an activist with the Peruvian community, said that Santisteban was raped and murdered so cruelly that it was "beyond description." "Police have said it was one of the most cruel crimes they have ever seen," he said.

Portugal said police were "working very fast" and voiced hope that the crime would be solved.