Did London Police Fail Murdered Rwandan Model?

29-year-old model and former Rwandan beauty queen stabbed to death in an apparent domestic incident had contact with police before she died, it has been revealed by the Evening Standard.

Linah Keza was killed in a knife attack at her home in King Edward Road, Leyton, east London, yesterday.

The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which will look at what contact police had with her and a 38-year-old man who has been arrested over her death.

Police were called by ambulance crews to Ms Keza’s home at around 4.30am and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, Ms Keza’s brother, Jack Hodari, described his sister as “the best person you could ever meet”.

He told Sky News: “When we were growing up, she was very smart, very helpful, very loving – just like any other African child.

“Even though she was in the UK and I was in Africa, we would talk every day. We spoke on Facebook, we used WhatsApp, we would call – we were always in touch.

“She would tell me her worries, her excitement – she would always open up to me as her big brother.

“It really pains me that I was not there for her at the time she was killed.

“That I could lose someone so dear to me is like a bad dream.”

Ms Keza, who was registered with the AMC Agency, was reportedly a contestant in Miss Africa 2010.
An AMC Agency spokesman said: “Today is a very sad day for our agency as we have had the sad news that one of our models, Linah Keza, has passed away in very tragic circumstances.

“She was very compassionate, amazing and a professional girl. Everybody that met and worked with her via the agency will miss her greatly.”
More than 1,000 people joined a tribute page set up on Facebook.

Belinah Elsie posted: “We loved you and we will always remember you. Thanks for the moments we shared and for the memorable days.”
The man who was arrested is currently being questioned at a police station in north London.

Chairman of the Rwandan Community in London Patrice Shema said: “We still can’t believe that Linah is gone. You see these things on television but when it happens to you and it’s a close friend, that’s when the reality hits home.

“Linah has been a very active member of our community. She was such a wonderful girl, very happy, passionate about modelling.”
He said the police had helped her to move house when she suffered domestic abuse, but that she had not spoken about it to members of the community.

“Linah did not open up, she was very close to me and she never told me anything. Something should have been done to protect her.

“Young girls who are being abused by men need to talk about it, they need their lives saving.”

Born in Uganda, the mother-of-one moved to Rwanda as a teenager and came to the UK more than 10 years ago.
The University of Wolverhampton graduate had a three-year-old daughter.

The community is now trying to raise money to have her body flown back to Rwanda when it is released by police.

Detectives have been given more time to question the 38-year-old arrested over the incident.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said a post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be stab wounds to the chest.