Zara Aleena’s family have said she “believed that a woman should be able to walk home” in a moving tribute to “a beloved human, child, niece, cousin, granddaughter, friend to all”.
Aleena was attacked on a street in Ilford, east London, on Sunday while returning home after a night out. Her family said she had “put her party shoes in a bag and donned her trainers” because “she walked everywhere”.
In the statement, the family said: “Zara believed that a woman should be able to walk home. Now, her dreams of a family are shattered, her future brutally taken.
“Sadly, Zara is not the only one who has had her life taken. We all know women should be safe on our streets. She was in the heart of her community, 10 minutes from home.
“We all need to be talking about what happened to our Zara, we all need to be talking about this tragedy.”
The statement added that the past few days had been “shocking and unimaginable”.
The tribute described Aleena, who was a carer to her mother and grandmother, as “a joy to all of us” and “our love in human form”, as well as friendly, with “a passionate spirit and indomitable energy”.
