Asha Muneer 'killed by jilted boyfriend'
The ex-boyfriend of a Berkshire A-level student murdered her in an "exceptionally vicious attack" spurred by rejection, a court has heard.
Gulamyr Akhter is accused of repeatedly stabbing Asha Muneer as she walked home from work in Reading in January.
Prosecutors told Reading Crown Court the 19-year-old murdered Miss Muneer, 18, "because he could not tolerate her rejection of him".
Mr Akhter, of Victoria Way, Reading, denies murder.
Ms Muneer, from Whitley in Reading, worked part-time as a shop assistant at the Laura Ashley shop on the Brunel Retail Park.
She had once been in a relationship with Mr Akhter but it ended in the summer before Miss Muneer died and she had started seeing someone else, the jury heard.
Her body was found on a footpath next to the River Kennet, near the Madejski football stadium, by a jogger on the evening of 18 January.
A post-mortem examination revealed that she had suffered 25 stab wounds to her head, face and neck.
CCTV footage shown to the jury saw her initially walking alone after finishing work at 1800 GMT but she is then joined by a man in dark clothes and a hooded top, carrying a rucksack.
At one point she appears to stop and turn around to walk in the other direction but the man blocks her path so she continues in the initial direction, trailed by the man.
The prosecution said the last sighting of Miss Muneer on CCTV is shortly before 1830 GMT when she is seen walking towards the underpass where her body was found two hours later. The man with the rucksack was still with her.
He is later captured on CCTV walking in the other direction on his own.
At one point he stops and appears to wipe his hands in a pile of snow, the court heard.
Jogger Tegwyn Jones, who found her body said he initially believed it was a bag of rubbish.
Chief prosecutor John Price QC said: "She had been the victim of an exceptionally vicious attack by someone with a knife."
Knife blade bent
The murder weapon, believed to be a kitchen knife, was found discarded nearby and DNA on it matched that of the victim.
Its blade had been bent and handle broken, possibly by the force of impact.
Mr Price said: "Whoever was responsible for attacking this young woman must have intended to kill her, to end her life.
"Gulamyr Akhter murdered Asha Muneer because he could not tolerate her rejection of him."
Mr Akhter was arrested the next morning and told officers he had been at home all night.
But the jury heard that mobile phone records showed that his phone was used close to where Miss Muneer worked at around 1800 GMT and that it also moved south, in line with the victim's movements.
The trial continues.