LA ESPERANZA, Honduras — A large crowd in Honduras accompanied the body of Berta Caceres to its final resting place Saturday amid calls for justice in this week’s killing of the indigenous leader and environmental activist.

Many of those carrying Caceres’ coffin on their shoulders through the dusty streets of La Esperanza were Lenca indigenous people for whose rights she had fought. Drummers pounded out rhythms as mourners chanted “The struggle goes on and on” and “Berta Caceres is present, today and forever.”

Berta Caceres, 45, who was awarded the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in fighting a dam project, had complained of death threats from police, the army and landowners' groups. The Associated Press

The crowd marched six miles from Caceres’ mother’s home to a chapel where a Mass was celebrated in her memory, and to the cemetery in La Esperanza 190 miles. Her four daughters and her ex-husband were among the procession.

“Forgive me, Bertita,” said Salvador Zuniga, Caceres’ former husband. “Forgive me for not understanding your greatness.”

The previous evening, Austra Flores said she hoped that her daughter’s murder will not go unpunished and that global attention will pressure Honduran authorities to find those responsible.

Caceres, 45, who was awarded the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in fighting a dam project, had complained of death threats from police, the army and landowners’ groups. She was slain Thursday by gunmen who broke into her home.

“My mother died because she defended the land and rivers of her country,” Caceres’ daughter Olivia said.

Mexican human rights activist Gustavo Castro Soto was also wounded in the attack.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez says authorities are investigating Caceres’ killing with U.S. assistance.

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