Vigil marks three years since murder of Zara Aleena - as her family 'protest the systems that failed her'

Sunday, 29 June 2025 19:52

By Emma Birchley, news correspondent

Under the burning sun and in silence, a group of people all in white made their way through the streets of Ilford in east London, stopping traffic as they went.

Together, they were completing the walk home that 35-year-old Zara Aleena never had the chance to finish.

Three years ago, she was sexually assaulted and murdered in the early hours after leaving a bar.

But for her aunt Farah Naz, the gathering was as much a protest as a vigil.

"It's a heavy weight we carry as a family. Three years on, it feels like yesterday and sometimes it feels like 10 years ago.

"We come together to silently protest… to protest against systems that failed Zara, to protest against a culture that accepts and facilitates violence and excuses it and we come together to stand against violence towards women and girls and to say this must stop. No more."

Zara's killer, Jordan McSweeney, had already followed two other women that night, just nine days after being let out of prison.

But he should have been back inside after breaching the conditions of his release. But failings meant he was still free.

The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in a decade and this summer it will publish its strategy to achieve that, where so many others have failed.

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But it's a bold promise.

"Firstly, we need a huge cultural shift… the culture that accepts violence and excuses it against women and girls. We need to change that, and we need to end that now," said Farah.

"Secondly, we need education, we need early intervention, and we need resources so that we can shift that culture.

"And thirdly, we need policy change and practice change, and we need resources behind those policy and practice change to end violence towards women and girls."

They'll be back to do it all again next year, with the hope that by then progress is being made to keep women like Zara safe from harm.

Sky News

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