A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Sabina Nessa.
The Metropolitan Police said the man held by detectives investigating the murder of the 28-year-old teacher was arrested at an address in Lewisham, south-east London and remains in custody.
Sabina 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.
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Her body was found by a member of the public almost 24 hours after her death.
Sabina's 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.
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.”
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He added that Metropolitan Police officers will be attending a planned vigil for Ms Nessa on Friday.
Officers have said Sabina left her home on Astell Road and was killed on her way to The Depot bar in Pegler Square, Kidbrooke Village, 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.
“Sabina never arrived at the pub and is thought to have been murdered as she walked through the park,” the force said.
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A post-mortem examination, carried out on Monday, was inconclusive.
It came as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said violence against women should be treated with the same level of priority as counter terrorism following the murder of Sabina Nessa.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Mr Khan 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 deserve.
“I think this deserves the same priority as counter terrorism. I agree with the inspector who called this an epidemic.
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“I think it is an epidemic and 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.”
He added: “I’m in close contact with the Metropolitan Police Service and my thoughts and prayers are with Sabina Nessa’s family. It’s just awful what happened to Sabina last Friday. When I think of Bibaa Henry, Nicole Smallman, Sarah Everard, it’s heart-breaking.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0208 721 4266 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111
Featured Image Credit: PA