ROME, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A scholarship has been set up in the memory of a British exchange student found murdered three years ago in central Italy, officials said.
Perugia and the city's University for Foreigners said the scholarship would honor the life of Meredith Kercher, the ANSA news agency reported.
''Meredith Kercher was here, our guest, to study and we want to remember her as a young student,'' Mayor Wladimiro Boccali said Tuesday, the third anniversary of the day she was found with her throat cut.
Three people were convicted in Kercher's murder, which allegedly took place as she was being sexually assaulted. They are her roommate Amanda Knox, and Knox's former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who are appealing their 26 and 25-year sentences, and Ivory Coast native Rudy Guede, who is appealing his 16-year sentence.
''Perugia wants a tangible sign to remain from her coming here," Boccali said. ''I think Meredith should be considered one of us and, as such, she should find a place in the city's shared memory, with a thought also for her devastated family.''
Two films about the murder are planned, the report said.
Kercher's family said a film about the British exchange student's murder was a ''horrible thought."
Shooting has started in Italy on the first, a made-for-TV U.S. film focusing on Seattle-born Knox, entitled "The Amanda Knox Story."
It features rising star Hayden Panettiere playing Knox, whose good looks led to her frequently being called "Foxy Knoxy."
The other is a British picture by Michael Winterbottom, reportedly featuring Colin Firth as an investigative reporter.
