Friends of 19-year-old Samaria Ayanle have criticized the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Met Police over the delayed investigations of her her body despite discovered from the River Thames.

On February 22, Ayanle’s body was recovered by the police. The Met Police were called by a local who stumbled upon a body on the north foreshore near Putney Pier.

The body was found the same day she went missing. However, due to unawareness about the girl’s disappearance, the police did not investigate the matter.

The Met Police shared that the body found was believed to be Samaria; however, it was not wholly confirmed. However, Samaria’s parent and friends were informed by the police about the recovered body on March 8th.

Samaria’s parent and friends labeled this whole event as ‘unjust’ and blamed the university and police for the delay in identification.

Ayanle’s friends and fellow students campaigned against SOAS and through posters and social media platforms, they interacted with online people to showcase the university’s frivolous attitude in this case as the university had filed the complaint late.

Ayanle was in her first year of SOAS studying was studying Japanese and the History of Art.

SOAS released a statement on March 13th stating “We are deeply saddened to hear that police have discovered a body which is believed to be that of Samaria Ayanle, who was a first-year student at SOAS University of London, studying for a BA in Japanese and the History of Art. Our thoughts are with her family, loved ones and friends at this difficult time. We know that this news will be felt by many and we will be doing everything we can to support friends, family, and the wider student and staff community.”

Many social media users were lambasted due to the lack of action taken by the university and the police.

With all the negative comments, the university explained “It immediately began taking steps to attempt to contact Samaria, including attempting to contact her next-of-kin, contacting Samaria directly, and asking for checks to be made in her halls of residence. When a tragic death like this occurs, we know that people will have many questions to make sense of what has happened, and we await the conclusion of the police investigation to provide answers to these questions.’’

’We also want to provide reassurance that when students raised concerns about Samaria Ayanle with the university, we immediately began taking steps to attempt to contact Samaria, including attempting to contact her next-of-kin, contacting Samaria directly, and asking for checks to be made in her halls of residence.“

The police shared that they tested fingerprints and also checked the missing person’s complaints; however, they were unsuccessful.

“We are very shocked. She seemed very nice and sweet, none of us know what to make of it. There needs to be a full investigation,” a fellow student said.