Nailing the vile smear that the British media downplayed the case of murdered teacher Sabina Nessa because of her colour
- A councillor said Twitter users had been complaining over lack of 'attention'
- It was alleged the case received less coverage than murder of Sarah Everard
- Newspaper and online archives refute the allegation the story has been ignored
- The case has been widely covered on MailOnline and other major news outlets
Claims the murder of Sabina Nessa has been ignored by the British media because she is a 'woman of colour' can today be exposed as baseless by research showing the tragedy has been widely covered from the moment police named her.
Tower Hamlets Councillor Rabina Khan made the smear on the Today programme this morning, saying that Twitter users had been complaining about the lack of 'attention' the case had allegedly received compared to the murder of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, who is white.
Presenter Nick Robinson pointed out that the story has dominated the front pages, appearing on page one of a raft of newspapers including the Daily Mail, Mirror, Telegraph, Express and Guardian.
A vigil in memory of Sabina Nessa, and in solidarity against violence against women, at Pegler Square in Kidbrooke, south London
People line up to place candles during a vigil for murdered 28-year-old teacher Sabina Nessa in Kidbrooke in south-east London
Searches of newspaper and online archives also refute the allegation the story has been ignored. Sabina, a 28-year-old teacher, was named and pictured by police as the victim of the savage attack in a Twitter post at 5.30pm on Monday.
The Evening Standard named and pictured Sabina at 6.30pm, followed by an article published on MailOnline by Daily Mail Crime Correspondent at 10pm, according to a newspaper archive service. The next day the Mirror did the same at 8.07am, followed by the Guardian at 9.34am and the Independent around three hours later. Not all titles have teams updating websites at night.
By the end of Tuesday, every major national newspaper had covered the story.
MailOnline has followed every development in the tragic case, and it has featured as the top story of the website every day since Tuesday.
After Ms Khan mentioned the murder of Sarah Everard as an example of a story that had been widely covered, Mr Robinson pointed out the contrasts between both tragedies that would have influenced the level of coverage.
'Unlike the case of Sarah Everard who was missing for many days, meaning there was a focus on the hunt for her as well as the hunt for the killer, very tragically Sabina’s body was found in the park and therefore there was not that sense of drama around the hunt.'
Ms Khan went on to quote a study about the 'disproportionate' coverage given to white victims of crime compared to people from ethnic minorities.
However, the figures that she quoted appeared to be from the US, not the UK.
Sabina's horrific killing has sparked fresh fury from politicians, campaigners and members of the public that women are unable to walk the streets of Britain without fearing being attacked.
MailOnline has widely covered this aspect of the case, with two articles specifically on the issue and numerous stories including comments from women's campaigners.
Sabina was taking a five-minute walk to meet a friend at The Depot bar in Pegler Square near her home in Kidbrooke, south-east London, on September 17 at around 8.30pm when she was attacked.
A member of the public found her body close to the OneSpace community centre in Cator Park on Saturday at around 5.30pm.
Police today released new CCTV footage of the second man they are hunting over her murder - after arresting a 38-year-old over the horrific attack on the primary school teacher just yards from her front door.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Met Police control room on 0208 721 4266.
