A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of teenager Sabita Thanwani, who was found dead at student accommodation in London.
Maher Maaroufe, 22, of no fixed address, has been charged with 19-year-old Thanwani’s murder as well as assaulting an emergency worker, the Metropolitan police said.
Maaroufe, a Tunisian national, who is not a student, will appear at Highbury Corner magistrates court on Tuesday.
Police officers were called to Arbour House in Sebastian Street in central London at about 5am on Saturday, where Thanwani, who was studying psychology at City University, was found suffering serious injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A postmortem examination carried out at the Whittington hospital, north London, on Monday gave the cause of death as sharp force trauma to the neck.
On Monday, Thanwani’s family paid tribute to her, adding they pray that “there will come a day when girls and women are safe”.
In a statement issued through police, they described the 19-year-old as “an angel” who “was pure and did not see bad in anyone”.
“Sabita Thanwani was our daughter. Our angel,” they said. “Her life, that we hoped would be long, was cut tragically short. She was ripped away from those who loved her so very dearly; her mum, dad, brother, grandparents, extended family and friends.
“Sabita was the most caring and loving person we have ever known. She inspired us every day of her precious 19 years of life.”
They continued: “In her short life, she helped so many. Sabita was pure and did not see bad in anyone, because there was no badness in her own awesome heart.
“We will never ever stop loving or missing our beautiful, irreplaceable Sabita. The girl that was an angel upon the earth is now an angel in heaven.
“We can only pray that lessons will be learned and that somehow, there will come a day when girls and women are safe,” they said.
