Sabina Nessa, a primary school teacher who was found dead in a London park, may have been killed by a stranger who is still at large, police have said.
The 28-year-old had been walking to meet a friend at a pub in Kidbrooke, south east London, on a journey that should have taken just five minutes when she was fatally attacked near Cator Park.
Her body was found by a dog walker almost 24 hours after her death, police said.
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Officers said Ms Nessa left her home on Astell Road and was killed as she walked through the park at around 8.30pm last Friday.
Her body was found near the OneSpace community centre at Kidbrooke Park Road in the Royal Borough of Greenwich at around 5.30pm on Saturday.
Speaking to ITV News, Sabina's cousin Zubel Ahmed said her parents were "absolutely devastated" after she was taken from them in the "worst way".
He described his cousin as "a beautiful, kind, caring soul".
"Nothing is making sense to us, why was she taken from us we just don't know," he added.
Sabina’s sister shared a heartfelt tribute to her on Twitter, writing: “My beautiful talented and caring sister. My inspiration to always put myself first and never let anybody put me down."
A post-mortem examination was carried out on Monday, but was inconclusive.
Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry said he is “keeping a completely open mind” on what the motive of the attacker may have been but is concerned that they are still on the loose.
Asked whether the Metropolitan Police are worried that the killer could attack someone else, he said: “We have lines of inquiry that we’re pursuing at the moment.
“It’s always a concern that it may happen, but that’s not something that we have any intelligence on at this time.”
Asked whether he believes a stranger was behind the attack, Mr Lawry added: “That’s definitely a line of inquiry that we’re looking at.”
Her death comes just months after the killing of Sarah Everard, who was abducted in Clapham, south London, and just over a year after sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were murdered at a park in Wembley, north London.
Following the news of Ms Nessa's death, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said violence against women should be treated with the same level of priority as counter terrorism, adding that he agreed violence against women was an "epidemic".
He said: “I think we need to make sure we have a fully joined-up policy to address this issue from school with boys being taught to respect girls and proper healthy relationship education, to the government outlawing misogyny and making it a hate crime and making the harassment of women in a public place a criminal offence, to making sure the police have the support they need to address violence against women and girls but also to making sure the criminal justice service gives this the seriousness it deserves."
“I think it is an epidemic," he added. "I think it’s really important that people like me, who have not had to live the experiences of women and girls listen to the experience of women and girls and work with them to have policies that address this awful issue.”
Mr Lawry insisted the streets of the capital were safe for women and officers were listening to concerns.
He said: “The streets are safe for women, I’d like to reassure the public around that, I’d like to make sure that people are free to walk around free from fear and my officers will make sure that that can take place.”
Downing Street said the Prime Minister’s thoughts were with the family and friends of Ms Nessa.
A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: “The Prime Minister’s focus is on making sure that we make our streets safe for absolutely everybody, that’s why we’re investing the money we are in recruiting more police officers and which is why we, as I say, introduced the strategy when it comes to violence against women and girls earlier this year.”
He added that Metropolitan Police officers will be attending a planned vigil for Ms Nessa on Friday.
The primary school where Ms Nessa worked remembered her as “kind, caring and absolutely dedicated to her pupils” in a moving tribute.
Lisa Williams, head of Rushey Green Primary School in Lewisham, said: “She had so much life ahead of her and so much more to give and her loss is desperately sad.
“As a school we are supporting each other through this very difficult time, and we will be providing specialist support to those who need it.”
A man in his 40s who was arrested on suspicion of killing her has been released under further investigation.
Anyone with information about the death of Sabina Nessa is asked to call police on 0208 721 4266 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
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