Man locked up indefinitely for killing 19-year-old student in halls

Maher Maaroufe stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend Sabita Thanwani in her University of London accommodation.

Maher Maaroufe (Metropolitan Police/PA) (PA Archive)

An asylum seeker who nearly beheaded a student as he stabbed her to death in her hall of residence has been locked up indefinitely.

Maher Maaroufe stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend Sabita Thanwani in the neck with a knife at around 5am on March 19 2022.

He attacked her in her University of London accommodation in Clerkenwell, with the wound inflicted almost decapitating her.

Tunisian-born Maaroufe, 24, had admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because he was suffering from schizoaffective disorder.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating an emergency worker.

Ms Thanwani’s family described him as “evil predator” and a “monster”.

On Monday, Judge Nigel Lickley KC sentenced him at the Old Bailey to a hospital order without limit of time.

He told the defendant: “Sabita had her whole life ahead of her. You ended her life.

“You actions will continue to cause enduring pain and suffering.”

Judge Lickley said Maaroufe carried out the attack during the “height” of a psychotic episode.

He said Maaroufe had been “aggressive” and “controlling” towards Ms Thanwani during their relationship and hit her at least once, adding that this behaviour may have been part of his “emerging illness”.

The court heard that Maaroufe entered the UK legally on an unknown date but had overstayed and was in the process of claiming asylum at the time of the attack.

He was unemployed, smoked cannabis and “regularly got into fights”, prosecutor Louis Mably KC said.

Ms Thanwani had complained that Maaroufe was “possessive and controlling”, even waiting outside nightclubs she was in to escort her home.

The evening before the attack, Ms Thanwani met Maaroufe, who was wearing a balaclava, outside a mosque and they spent time in Edgware Road and Oxford Street.

After they had returned to Ms Thanwani’s accommodation, other students heard her shouting “stop”, “I can’t breathe” and “I beg you, don’t kill me” in the early hours of the morning.

One young woman, who called the police, said she heard a loud scream of “help”.

He is an evil, sadistic murderer, his actions were calculated to kill her because she rejected him

Family of Sabita Thanwani

Maaroufe tried to get into another room before leaving the building in Sebastian Street.

He was found by police asleep under a tarpaulin in a garden shed and headbutted an officer while being arrested, the court heard.

Ms Thanwani, an aspiring psychologist, was described as a “hardworking, conscientious, kind and caring young woman”.

Her family branded Maaroufe a “murderer” despite his plea to the lesser charge of manslaugher being accepted by the prosecution.

“He is an evil, sadistic murderer, his actions were calculated to kill her because she rejected him.”

Her mother Rheea said: “He murdered Sabita, he murdered me, he murdered all of us.”

The victim’s 22-year-old brother Raveen added that “anger and rage consumes” him when thinking about the defendant.