Man questioned over schoolgirl footpath murder

Police have arrested a man in connection with the footpath murder
12 April 2012

A 19-year-old man was being questioned today on suspicion of murdering a schoolgirl stabbed to death as she walked home along an unlit riverside footpath.

The body of part-time Laura Ashley shop assistant Asha Muneer, 18, was discovered lying next to the River Kennet in Reading, Berkshire, by a jogger on Monday night.

Officers from Thames Valley Police arrested the suspect shortly after 10pm yesterday at an address in the town. He is being held at Loddon Valley police station.

A post-mortem examination carried out at a local hospital revealed Miss Muneer, a pupil at Highdown School in Caversham, Reading, had died of multiple stab wounds.

Relatives at her home in the Whitley area of Reading were too distraught to speak about her death.

The teenager was found on the footpath, near the Madejski football stadium, at 8.30pm on Monday with her handbag lying nearby.

She is thought to have left work at Laura Ashley, on the Brunel Retail Park, more than two hours earlier, when it closed at 6pm. No ambulance was called as it was already too late to save the teenager.

Detective Superintendent Karen Trego of Thames Valley Police said: "We continue to keep an open mind as to the motive for Asha's death.

"I appreciate that this incident is of great concern for the Reading community and I would like to reassure them that a team of detectives working on the investigation are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry."

She appealed for witnesses to come forward with information, and added: "This is obviously a deeply distressing time for those who knew and loved Asha and I ask that the privacy of her family, school friends and work colleagues is respected."

A spokeswoman for Laura Ashley said the death was "shocking" and that the teenager's friends at the store, on the outskirts of Reading, were devastated.

The footpath, which passes under the A33 dual carriageway, is popular with fishermen, cyclists, joggers and dog walkers during daylight hours.

Staff at the retail park where the woman was employed said it was not generally used by people returning home from work at night.

Dog walkers spoke of their shock at the death, but said the stretch of footpath was considered dangerous to walk on at night.

Kathryn Hilliard, 28, of nearby Kennet Island, said: "That part of the footpath is a bit scary and there's a lot of graffiti down there.

"I would never go down there in the dark on my own."

Debbie Garth, 39, added: "I've always been wary of walking under there and will be even more wary now."

Margaret Ward said: "It's quite picturesque, but it's not somewhere I'd walk in the middle of the night because there's no lighting there.

"It's quite incredible to believe because it's a nice little area around here.

"But even with my dogs I wouldn't walk under the bridge. It's a blow to think this has happened somewhere where I walk every day."

A Facebook group has been set up to allow people to pay tribute to the teenager.

Jonathan Freeman wrote on the social networking site: "a talented clever & beautiful girl who made economics lessons a great laugh... R.I.P Asha xxx"

Shahdab Jahangir wrote: "u were a starh and u shined when we needed u too... R.I.P"

The page includes a poem dedicated to Miss Muneer: "For Asha a beautiful girl, Asha will always be in our hearts, Those times we spent with her we will not forget, With no doubt Asha will go to Jannah, Asha was definitely a star to those she knew, Asha you will be sadly missed. Asha Muneer - like a sister to everyone."

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