BERLIN

German authorities are investigating "in all directions" following the murder of an Algerian woman in Hannover, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.

Rahma Ayat, a nursing trainee, was fatally stabbed on July 4 in the stairwell of her apartment building. According to her family, she had previously faced racist insults and harassment from a neighbor.

"The Hannover public prosecutor's office is investigating in all directions. The background and motives are currently under investigation," spokesman Oliver Eisenhauer told Anadolu.

"Current findings have not revealed any evidence of racist or Islamophobic attitudes from the accused," he said, referring to the main suspect arrested after the murder, but added that the investigation was still ongoing.

Police arrested Ayat's neighbor, a 31-year-old German citizen, shortly after the murder as the main suspect. According to residents, the suspect had previously attempted to enter Ayat's apartment.

The victim's mother told Al-Araby television that her daughter had previously reported being repeatedly harassed and insulted by the suspect "because of her hijab (headscarf) and Arab origin."

Ayat had lived in Germany for two years and worked as a nursing trainee at a hospital in the northwestern German city. She was preparing to begin formal nursing education.

Shocked by her death, her colleagues and friends held a vigil in the city center last week to honor her memory and demand justice.