Man jailed in London for the murder of 28 year old teacher

A man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old teacher generating renewed outrage over the UK’s epidemic of violence against women and girls.

The Metropolitan Police announced in a statement on Friday that Koci Selamaj will serve at least 36 years in prison after a comprehensive investigation led to his identification, arrest, and conviction at the Old Bailey in February.

Nessa had left her home in the London neighborhood of Greenwich just after 8:30 p.m. on September 17, according to police. Because she was running late, detectives suspect she was heading through Cator Park toward a pub in Pegler Square, where she had planned to meet a friend.

“On September 17, 2021, Koci Selamaj, 36, travelled from Eastbourne to Cator Park in Kidbrooke [south-east London] where he waited for an unsuspecting victim to come his way,” according to the Metropolitan Police.

“He spotted Sabina enter the park about 20:30 hours and carried out a wild and sexually motivated attack before fleeing the area,” police said Friday.

Nessa, a Bedfordshire-born teacher who lived on a street that overlooked the park, is suspected to have been murdered while walking through it, according to the Met. A man walking his dog discovered her body the next afternoon.

According to the police statement, “the court declared Selamaj committed an ‘extremely horrible murder.”

“We have heard today from Sabina’s family and the horrific impact this has had on all of their lives,” said Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who oversaw the investigation. Their dignity and bravery have continued to astonish us, and our thoughts are with them.” Sabina’s murder had an impact on many people, not just those who knew her. “Her tragedy hit to the heart of many women’s fear that they should be able to walk in our open areas safely at any time of day or in any location,” John remarked.

Nessa’s death came six months after the attack and murder of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old British woman.

Everard vanished on March 3 after leaving a friend’s residence in Clapham, south London. A week later, her body was discovered more than 50 miles from where she was last seen. Her assailant, a serving police officer, admitted to kidnapping, rape, and murdering her.

Everard’s story sparked a social media outpouring of women sharing their own stories of sexual assault and harassment, bringing the UK’s appalling record on violence against women and girls into limelight.

According to London’s Met. Police, one in every five women in the UK is sexually assaulted during her lifetime. Domestic abuse cases in the UK’s capital have climbed by 26% in the last five years. The Met. logged more than 19,000 claims of sexual assaults in 2020-21, according to a revised action plan to combat violence against women and girls in London released in April.