The antisemitic nature of a murder involving a strictly-Orthodox pensioner in France has been covered up, according to her family.

Dr Sarah Halimi, 66, was beaten up and thrown out of a window of her Paris apartment several days before Pesach on April 4.

Relatives have accused prosecutors and the French media of downplaying the violent crime, which took place near the Belleville suburb, according to the Daily Wire.

Police are still considering whether to charge the suspect with a hate crime.

Witnesses claim that the suspect, an African immigrant, shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack – though this has not been confirmed.

After the murder, members of Paris’ Jewish community held a vigil and march outside Dr Halimi’s apartment.

Relatives believe Dr Halimi’s death was treated as a simple murder to avoid inflaming religious tensions during the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Jean-Alexandre Buchinger, a lawyer for the family, said: “This drama was an antisemitic assassination.” He said that the death had been made “to look like a suicide”.

Jewish groups also believe that the nature of the attack could have been concealed to help the National Front ahead of the election.