A 31-year-old female student at the University of Essex was brutally killed in a completely unprovoked attack.

Her alleged crime…she was a Muslim.

Detectives have stated that Nahid Almanea’s clothing, her abaya and hijab may well have induced the violent murder.

The Saudi student died after being stabbed 16 times to her body, neck, head and arms.

Irrational acts of aggression towards hijab clad women are unfortunately a common phenomenon.

Even in my own uni days 20 years ago, girls in their abayas and hijabs would be targeted on buses and trains.

Some had fizzy drinks, even beer thrown over them, others were randomly cursed at. One was even punched in the stomach whilst being called ‘a f***ing muslim Ninja.’ Only recently a friend who wears the hijab took to Facebook to share her experience of racism, saying, “My daughters and I were in the city today in a lift and this woman walked in and loudly said "GREAT, THREE SUICIDE BOMBERS!!" I was gobsmacked.”

Gaining online support can serve to create and unite an empathetic community. However, prominent Muslim author Ed Husain has sparked controversy after he tweeted, ‘Muslim woman in hijab killed in UK. Scholars gave fatwa after 9/11 and 7/7 not to wear hijab. Rethink.’ Although the tweet was promptly deleted, furious campaigners have said that Husain’s words were “victim blaming.”

Isn’t a key part of our reaffirmed British values freedom and liberty? Therefore, if a woman advocates the freedom to wear as little as she wants, thus she should have the choice to wear as much as she wants.

In the same way, if you don’t want your child to take part in the school Christmas play, then put them in a Muslim school.

If you don’t want your child reading the Bible at school, well then move to a Muslim country.

If you don’t like the fact that girls wear skirts as part of their uniform, then why send them to that school in the first place?

Although a headmaster in the Isle of Wight sent 250 girls home for having skirts that were too short or trousers that were too tight.

Nahid Almanea had chosen to study in the UK coming from Saudi Arabia where, let’s face it, is hardly an environment where women can advance or thrive.

But it was an unprovoked, truculent hate crime that took Nadia’s life in a country that champions a belief in freedom and tolerance of others.