Walking Zara Home
A Vigil That Demands Change
Four years after the murder of Zara Aleena, her family, friends and community once again gathered in Ilford for the annual Walk Zara Home vigil, a tradition born from grief but sustained by determination for change.
Zara, a 35‑year‑old aspiring lawyer, was sexually assaulted and killed while walking home on 26 June 2022. Her murderer, had been released from prison just nine days earlier. Zara’s tragic loss was avoidable. A failure now widely recognised as the result of systemic shortcomings across multiple agencies.
This year’s vigil which took place on 27 June 2026, carried a renewed message of hope, led by Zara’s aunt Farah Naz, who spoke of choosing hope over despair for the first time since her niece’s death. She reminded attendees that Zara’s legacy is not only about the failures that allowed her murder, but about the values she embodied: fairness, courage, and care for others.
Campaigners and community leaders joined the walk, calling for stronger action to tackle violence against women and girls. They emphasised that cultural and systemic change must go hand in hand from better resourcing of public services to shifting societal attitudes that normalise misogyny.
Local MP Wes Streeting highlighted progress in Redbridge, including reductions in harassment and improved prosecution rates, while acknowledging that far more must be done, and fast.
As supporters retraced Zara’s final steps, the vigil served both as a moment of remembrance and a collective call for justice. It was a reminder that women’s safety cannot be treated as optional, and that Zara’s name must remain at the heart of the change her family and community continue to fight for.
Photographs courtesy of: Ranjit Sond and Tandy Virdee