LONDON – Sabina Nessa, a popular and admired teacher living in south-east London, was about to meet a friend at a local pub when she left home and walked past a park one evening. September last year.
But on what should have been five minutes, the 28-year-old was ambushed. Koci SelamajProsecutors said a garage worker struck her dozens of times in the head with a metal traffic sign before strangling Ms Nessa in a “really vicious violent” attack.
A judge on Thursday is expected to sentence Mr Selamaj, 36, of Albania, after he admitted in February that he committed her murder – a charge that carries a mandatory life sentence in the UK.
The attack and murder of Miss Nessa in a London public park, some of which was captured on surveillance footage, has fueled outrage at what women in particular see as humiliation. the government’s failure to resist gender-based violence in the UK.
Anger over the killing of Miss Nessa built on the outrage that emerged after Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive in London, was kidnapped and murdered by a London Police, Wayne Couzens, while walking in a public area.
But the coverage of the two cases also opens up a broader conversation about whether crimes against women of color attract the same attention as crimes against white women.
Her family and other women’s rights advocates criticized the media for not giving Miss Nessa, an Englishman of Bangladeshi descent, the same treatment as Miss Everard.
Miss Nessa’s family called Mr Selamaj’s plea a step towards achieving justice for her murder but said it would ultimately not end their suffering.
“It was a terrible, emotional and heartbreaking time for us,” said her sister, Jebina Yasmin Islam. on Wednesday, Please pray for her family.
Mrs Nessa’s death has rocked the south-east London community, where she was a beloved figure, passionate about nature, farming and cooking. Staff at Rushey Green Primary School in Catford, South East London, are raising money to build Miss Nessa’s garden. Surname describe her as talented, dedicated and kind.
“She has so much life ahead of her and so much to give,” Lisa Williams, the school’s head of state, said in a statement after her death.
Prosecutors have said Mr Selamaj did not disclose his motives and expressed “slight remorse”, but they suspect that the killing was sexually motivated.
Mr Selamaj was driving from the town of Eastbourne in Sussex, about 50 miles south of London, on September 17 with the intention of making a strike and waiting around Cator Park.
He saw Miss Nessa around 8:30 p.m. and beat her more than 30 times, before taking her to another area of the park and strangling her to death. Her body was found the next day.
Women’s rights groups have called on the government to not only enact tougher penalties for such crimes, but also strengthen policing and focus on prevention programs to educate men and children brother.
Goverment said last month that they will launch an extensive education campaign to tackle gender-based violence and harassment after receiving 180,000 responses to a request to publicize their personal experiences and views. Policy authorities say they will now treat violence against women as terrorism, serious organized crime and child molestation.
The Coalition to End Violence Against Women said it was a welcome update after years of lobbying, adding that the responsibility often fell on women to keep women safe. self.
By 2021, at least 141 British women have been killed by men or in attacks where a man is the prime suspect, according to Count the dead womena project dedicated to tracking such murders.
