Ex-boyfriend of Laura Ashley girl is charged with her murder
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:05 PM on 22nd January 2010
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The former boyfriend of a teenager stabbed to death on an isolated towpath has been charged with her murder.
Par-time Laura Ashley shop girl Asha Muneer, 18, was killed in a knife frenzied attack as she walked home from work along a riverside path in Reading, Berkshire, on Monday night.
Her ex-boyfriend, Gulamyr Akhter, of Reading, will appear at East Berkshire Magistrates' Court tomorrow.
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Gulamyr Akhter (R) has been charged with the murder of his former girlfriend Asha Muneer, who was found dead in Reading on Monday night
Miss Muneer, a talented student taking A-levels in English, sociology and economics, was walking to meet friends at a branch of McDonald's on the outskirts of Reading when she was killed in the brutal attack.
She was stabbed several times in the head and neck in the attack, which took place at around 8.30pm on a dimly-lit footpath running alongside the river Kennet.
An inquest is expected to be opened and adjourned by the Berkshire Coroner next week.
Miss Muneer's family paid tribute to her on Wednesday.
In a statement, they said: 'Our family have lost a loving, beautiful daughter and we are trying to come to terms with how she died and the void that it has left in our lives.'
Miss Muneer lived with her parents, four sisters and one brother in a three-bedroom house in Whitley, around a mile from where her body was found.
Tim Royle, headteacher of Highdown School, which Miss Muneer attended, said: 'The whole school community is deeply shocked by Asha Muneer's tragic and untimely death and all our thoughts and deepest sympathy are for her family and friends at this terrible time.
'Asha was a much-liked and very talented student who will be greatly missed by all her friends at Highdown and by the staff who knew her and taught her.'
The footpath where she was found passes under the A33 dual carriageway and is popular with fishermen, cyclists, joggers and dog walkers during daylight hours.
Dog walkers spoke of their shock at the death, but said the stretch of footpath was considered dangerous to walk along at night.
