#MuslimLivesMatter social media campaign surfaces after three American Muslim students shot dead

Outraged social media users have started the hashtag "Muslim Lives Matter" in response to the perceived lack of media coverage of the murder of three American Muslim students.

Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammed Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha, 19, were shot in the head in the university town Chapel Hill in North Carolina on Tuesday.

They were killed by 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, who is being held on three counts of first-degree murder.

The violent attack apparently came about because of a neighbourly dispute over a parking spot.

In a parallel to the "Black Lives Matter" movement sparked by police killings of African Americans in recent months, the hashtag "Muslim Lives Matter" has been trending on Twitter and Facebook.

Photos of the three victims including recent wedding photos of Mrs Barakat and her husband have featured in a number of posts which have been written as apologies to the victims.

Mr Barakat's cousin Haya Barakat tweeted a message that said "someone tell me racism/hate crimes don't exist".

Many of the posters also said they found out about the incident through social media.

CNN was criticised for a tweet that asked, "Did their faith play a role in the shooting?", with responses on Twitter asking whether the offender's beliefs played a role in the shooting.

A Facebook community called “Our Three Winners” has also been set up and populated by posts in a tribute to the victims.

"Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha have returned to their Lord," the site's creators state. "They have set an example in life and in death."

The site features a photo of the three smiling at what appears to be graduation ceremony. The women wear Muslim head scarfs, one of them also in a blue graduation cap.

Barakat's brother Farris wrote "it doesn't make sense" on his own Facebook page.

"Please pray for them, their friends, and the family. I haven't even begun to fully comprehend what has happened. But I know for sure those three together have done so much we are all proud of," Farris Barakat wrote.