Tributes paid to woman who was murdered walking home in Ilford
Zara Aleena was attacked and died in hospital on Sunday
Last updated 28th Jun 2022
Tributes have been paid to a 35-year-old woman who was murdered walking home from a night out in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Law graduate Zara Aleena was attacked by a stranger as she walked along Cranbrook Road in Ilford, east London, towards Gants Hill station.
A 29-year-old man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of murder and remains in custody.
'Kind soul, sweetest girl you could ever meet'
Ms Aleena's friend Sophie said: "She was just a kind soul, the sweetest girl, she could never harm a fly.
"Always polite, always bubbly, the sweetest girl that you could ever meet really, so much going for her."
According to reports, Ms Aleena had just passed her law degree and was working as an administrative officer at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Another friend, Nadia, said: "She was a very gentle soul, she was very helpful to everyone and her neighbours."
Her profile on the career networking site LinkedIn said: "My excellent interpersonal skills mean that I like people and they like me, I have strong organisational skills. Additionally, I bring energy, enthusiasm and ambition to any job role that I am in."
Police said Ms Aleena suffered multiple injuries and it appeared no weapon had been used in the attack.
‘Tragic murder of young woman in Ilford’
Emergency services were called to the scene in Ilford at 2.44am after members of the public found Ms Aleena with serious head injuries.
She was treated by paramedics at the scene and then taken to hospital, where she died later on Sunday morning.
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, senior officer for policing in the east area, said: "As you will be aware we are investigating the tragic murder of a woman in Ilford in the early hours of Sunday morning.
"We are keeping Zara Aleena's family up to date with our progress and my heartfelt condolences are with them at this terrible time, as the investigation progresses they will continue to be updated and supported."
He added, "There was no evidence of any weapons being used in the attack, which left Ms Aleena with fatal head injuries."
‘Be alert but not alarmed’
"Our priorities are to ensure the safety of the local community and to engage locally with residents and people affected, I understand that for women, particularly locally, this is an incredibly distressing incident, and I urge you to be alert but not alarmed”, he added.
"We will be working closely with partners and locally elected representatives to do all we can to make people in this area feel safe and tackle offenders who harm people and cause alarm in our community."
'Our streets should be safe for women'
Our Westminster Correspondent Georgina Prodromou spoke to Shadow Economic Secretary Tulip Saddiq, "It's just such a devastating impact for family," she said.
"But also for women in London who now have to consider whether they should walk home and should be looking over their shoulders.
"Our streets should be safe for women, I should be allowed to walk home and my daughter should be able to walk home just as much as my son is."
Figures from the Metropolitan Police show that 14 of the 44 victims of suspected homicides so far in 2022, not including Ms Aleena's death, were women.
In 11 of these cases the suspect is a relative or friend of the victim, another died in a house fire, and the relationship between suspect and victim in the remaining two is not yet clear.
It is rare for a victim to be murdered in the street by a stranger - according to the Office for National Statistics in the year to the end of March 2021 in England and Wales 6% of female victims and 18% of males were killed by strangers.
'Appeal for information'
Detectives have appealed for information from anyone who was in the Cranbrook Road area of Ilford between 2am and 3am on Sunday.
This includes anyone who drove through the area and may have dashcam footage, or anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area overnight.
Anyone with any information or footage should call the major incident room on 0208 345 3715 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.