Authorities in the U.K. are turning to the public for help in identifying the perpetrator behind the murder of 28-year-old teacher Sabina Nessa.

Nessa, who resided in south London, was killed Friday on her way to a pub from her home in what police said was only a five-minute walk. The Metropolitan Police said Thursday that Nessa was killed before 8:30 p.m. local time and her body was found in Cator Park in southeast London.

"Sabina's journey should have taken just over five minutes but she never made it to her destination," Detective Chief Inspector Joe Garrity said. "We know the community are rightly shocked by this murder...and we are using every resource available to us to find the individual responsible."

Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry said that there were certain leads they were pursuing. He made a promise that officers will "make sure that people are free to walk around free from fear" by doing what it can to solve Nessa's murder before another attack takes place.

Police said they arrested a man in his 40s but he has was later released.

Nessa’s murder follows the high-profile murder in March of U.K. woman Sarah Everard. A serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, was convicted on charges that he kidnapped, raped and killed Everard in a case that sent a wave of fear that the women of London may be unsafe.

Everard’s murder also sparked a national conversation on how to increase safety for women and a discussion on how law enforcement can improve its handling of cases of violence against them. According to the Femicide Census, a group that tracks violence against women and girls, one woman is killed by a man every three days in the U.K. It argues that the current strategy to address violence against women "shamefully ignores" victims of femicide in its current form.

In Nessa's case, women's activists drew attention also to the way victims of color were treated by London police. Mandu Reid, leader of the Women's Equality Party, said that Nessa's killing "demonstrates, once again, that not all victims are treated with the same respect and reverence."

Nessa’s sister took to social media to pay tribute. She tweeted that her deceased sister inspired her to "always put myself first" and to "never let anybody put me down."

“Never in my life did I or my sisters or my mum or dad think this could happen to us. May Allah grant her Jannah. Ameen #SabinaNessa,” she wrote.

RELATED STORIES