The sister of murdered teacher Sabina Nessa has said their family would have been treated better if they were white.
Garage worker Koci Selamaj chased Ms Nessa, 28, and bludgeoned her over the head with a metal traffic triangle, before dragging her unconscious body into the undergrowth and strangling her in Kidbrooke, south-east London.
Selamaj, 36, was jailed for at least 36 years on Friday for the murder.
But Jebina Yasmin Islam, who is the sister of the victim, criticised the media for treating the incident “differently” to cases such as the murder of Sarah Everard.
She also accused Home Secretary Priti Patel of using her sister’s name “for publicity reasons”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My sister didn’t get as much headlines, I feel, at the start. Maybe was it down to her ethnicity?
“She didn’t get the front pages on some of the papers, and in Sarah Everard’s case she did.”
Commenting on the treatment of her family, she said: “I think it’s just down to our ethnicity to be honest.
“And I feel like if we were a normal British white family we would have been treated equally, I guess.”
Asked about the impact on her family, Ms Islam added: “The impact has been horrendous. It’s been traumatising going into court several times, seeing him there the first two times.
“I think the Government should do something quick because I don’t want no other family to go through what we are.
“It’s a bad dream. That’s how I explain it all the time.”
Koci Selamaj, 36, refused to come to the Old Bailey for his sentencing on Friday.
Ms Islam says the courts should have the power to force people like him to attend proceedings.
Asked about his refusal to attend, Ms Islam said: “I was frustrated. We were like: ‘He is such a coward, not facing up to what he has done.’
“It made me angry because I wanted him to hear our impact statement to show how much hurt he’s caused my family.”
Asked if the court should have the power to force someone to attend, she said: “Definitely. I think it’s so important, the fact that they should be able to make the murderer, the perpetrator, come into court and listen.”
On Friday, a judge concluded the murder had been sexually motivated by a “predator” as he jailed Selamaj.
Following the sentencing, Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, tweeted: “Sabina Nessa lost her life due to the harrowing and callous actions of a man who’s rightly now behind bars.
“While I can’t possibly know how Sabina’s family and friends are feeling, I hope today’s sentence brings them a small comfort, knowing this evil monster has faced justice.
"As Home Secretary, tackling violence against women and girls is central to my Beating Crime Plan and I am doing everything in my power to target perpetrators, protect the public and make our streets safer for everyone.”
But Ms Islam said there has been no support from the Government, describing people in senior positions as “useless”.
She said: “They’ve not said nothing. Priti Patel has done a tweet on Friday and I was not happy about it because all of a sudden she’s using my sister’s name for publicity reasons.
“And to be honest she has no right.”
