Two men have appeared in court in connection with alleged kidnap, rape and murder of Celine Dookhran.
Mujahid Hussain, 33, and Vincent Tappu, 28, did not enter a plea during a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey.
Hussain, also known as Arshid, was charged with the murder, rape and kidnap of 20-year-old Miss Dookhran.
The defendant, of no fixed address, was further charged with the rape, attempted murder and kidnap of a second victim, a woman aged in her 20s.
Prosecutors allege that Hussain murdered Miss Dookhran, who was of Indian Muslim heritage, in a suspected “honour killing” for being in a relationship with an Arab Muslim.
Friends remembered her as a “beautiful, intelligent soul”, who was known for giving advice on beauty and make-up on social media.
Her social media included posts about religious holidays and fasting during Ramadan, with a final tweet posted eight days before her death, reading: “Alhamdulillah [praise God] for everything that's all I can say”.
Tappu, of Spencer Road in Ealing, was charged with the kidnap of Miss Dookhran and the second victim.
Miss Dookhran’s body was found inside a fridge at a house in Kingston on 19 July, hours after she was reported missing alongside the older woman.
She was formally identified on Monday and a post-mortem gave the cause of death as an “incised wound to the neck”.
A trial date has been set for 17 January, as Miss Dookhran’s family are being supported by a family liaison officer.
Scotland Yard originally gave the victim's age as 19 but later revised it to 20.
A 29-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender in relation to the case has been released as the investigation continues, the Metropolitan Police said.
A separate investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission is underway because of the short time between the two women being reported missing to police and her body being discovered.
