LONDON (AP) – The alleged kidnapping and murder of a young Londoner while she was coming home dismayed Britain and revived a painful question: why are women often not safe on the streets?
Sarah Everard’s fate is even more shocking because the suspect accused on Friday of kidnapping and killing her is a UK policeman whose job was to protect politicians and diplomats.
Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, left on a 50-minute walk from a friend’s house in South London around 9 pm on March 3. She never came. On Friday, police confirmed that a body found hidden in a forest 50 miles southeast of the city is hers.
London police arrested a member of the force’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command on Tuesday as a suspect in the case. On Friday, the police accused the policeman, Officer Wayne Couzens, of kidnapping and murder. Couzens, 48, is due to appear in court on Saturday.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Everard family said that “our beautiful daughter Sarah has been taken from us and we are appealing for any information that will help resolve this terrible crime”.
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“I know that the public feels hurt and angry about what happened, and these are the feelings that I personally share,” said Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, Nick Ephgrave,
Everard’s disappearance and death sparked protests across the country, with thousands of people calling on social media for information to help her find her. Women also began to share experiences of being threatened or attacked – or simply facing the daily fear of violence when walking alone.
A poster asks people for any information about the missing woman Sarah Everard, in the Clapham Common area of London, Monday, March 8, 2021. New missing TV circuit system, Everard, 33, was discovered during the police investigation to find Everard, who left a location near a friend’s house last Wednesday night to go home on foot, but has not been heard from since. (Kirsty O’Connor / PA via AP)
(Kirsty O’Connor / PA via AP)
“When she disappeared, any woman who ever came home alone at night felt that sense of instinctive and somber recognition,” wrote columnist Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian. “Steps in a dark street. Keys stuck between your fingers. There, but by the grace of God.”
Organizers of a planned vigil in Everard’s memory failed in a legal attempt to win the right to host the event, despite the coronavirus restrictions that prevent mass meetings.
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The organizers of Reclaim These Streets want to hold a socially remote meeting on Saturday at Clapham Common, an open space on Everard’s walking route home.
A Supreme Court judge on Friday refused to issue an order saying that such a meeting would be legal, meaning that organizers could face fines of up to $ 14,000.
Metropolitan Police officers search land near Great Chart Golf and Lesiure in connection with the disappearance of Sarah Everard in Ashford, England, on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Britain’s metropolitan police say a police officer he was arrested in connection with the case of a woman who disappeared in London last week. (Gareth Fuller / PA via AP)
(AP)
“I understand that this decision will be a disappointment for those who wish to express their strength of feeling, but I ask women and allies in London to find a safe alternative way to express their views,” said police commander Catherine Roper.
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Despite the court’s decision, some women said they still plan to protest on Saturday.
The case raised difficult questions for the police. British police are investigating how the force handled a report of indecent exposure against the same suspect, three days before Everard’s disappearance.
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The Independent Police Conduct Office is also investigating how the suspect sustained a head injury while in custody. Police say he was found injured in his cell and taken to a hospital for treatment before being returned to a police station.