Updated 22 March: A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of 19-year-old student Sabita Thanwani, who was found dead at her student accommodation in London on Saturday (19 March).

Maher Maaroufe – who was in a relationship with Thanwani but was not a student – has also been charged with assaulting an emergency worker. He will appear in court in London later today (22 March).

Thanwani – who was studying psychology at City, University of London – was found with neck injuries at her halls of residence in Clerkenwell on Saturday morning. Police and medics were called to the accommodation on Sebastian Street shortly after 5am, but she was later pronounced dead at the scene. 

A post-mortem examination carried out on Monday (21 March) gave the cause of death as a sharp force trauma to the neck. Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Command are investigating and continue to provide support to Sabita’s family, who issued a statement earlier this week paying tribute to the 19-year-old.

In the statement, which was released earlier this week, the family describe Thanwani as a “caring and loving person” who has been “ripped away” from her loved ones.

“In her short life, she helped so many,” the statement read. “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.” 

It continued: “We can only pray that lessons will be learnt and that somehow, there will come a day when girls and women are safe. We will never be able to thank the Metropolitan police enough for their dedication and tireless work in finding justice for our Sabita. From our hearts, we thank everyone for their love and support.”

Following Maaroufe’s arrest, Detective Chief Inspector Linda Bradley, who is leading the investigation, said: “I would like to thank everyone for publicising and sharing our appeal to trace Maaroufe.

“Sabita’s family have been updated with this development and continue to be supported by specially trained officers. Our deepest condolences are with them. I would ask everyone to respect their privacy at this indescribably devastating time for them as they come to terms with Sabita’s murder.” 

Image: Metropolitan police