A 21-year-old Israeli student was attacked and killed in Melbourne while speaking to her sister on the phone, police say.
Victoria police have released CCTV images of Aiia Maasarwe which shows the clothing she was wearing that night, in the hope someone saw her on the night and can help police track her exact movements. Photo: Supplied / Victoria Police
The body of Aiia Maasarwe was found near La Trobe University in the city's north. She had taken a tram home late on Wednesday after a comedy show.
Her sister "heard the sound of the phone falling to the ground and heard some voices", Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said.
Police are searching for the killer.
They have not ruled out the possibility that Ms Maasarwe was sexually assaulted, Melbourne's Age newspaper says, with known sex offenders "an active line of inquiry".
"Our presumption at this stage is that this was a random attack and opportunistic," Mr Stamper said.
Ms Maasarwe's sister, worried about Aiia, is reported to have called Australian police around the same time the body was found on Thursday morning outside a shopping centre.
A black cap emblazoned with "1986" and a grey t-shirt were found near the crime scene, and are being forensically tested. Police are also scouring CCTV footage for clues.
"Someone in the community knows about this. Someone has gone home on Tuesday night, or in the early hours of Wednesday morning, maybe with blood on them, missing items of clothing. Somebody knows about this," Mr Stamper said.
This t-shirt and cap were found at the scene, Victoria police said. Photo: Supplied / Victoria Police
Ms Maasarwe was a student of Chinese and English at a university in Shanghai, her uncle, Abed Katane, told Israeli media. She was on an exchange programme at La Trobe, he said.
"She was an excellent student, full of life. She wasn't in a very dangerous country at all, and yet we are still receiving such a painful message," Mr Katane told the Haaretz newspaper.
Ms Maasarwe's father has arrived in Australia to identify the body, which the Israeli embassy said it would assist with returning to Israel.
Last June the killing of 22-year-old comedian Eurydice Dixon sparked fresh anger and debate about violence against women in Australia.
Ms Dixon was raped and killed while walking home after a performance in Melbourne.
That followed a similar case in 2012, when Irish woman Jill Meagher was raped and murdered in Melbourne's inner north while walking home - prompting mass rallies to remember her and raise the issue of women's safety.
Australia's human rights commission has said that the country has "a disturbingly high rate of violence against women".
According to government figures, one in five women, and one in 20 men, have experienced sexual violence or threats since the age of 15.
Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, draws large numbers of foreign students to its many universities. More than 200,000 students came to the state of Victoria in 2017 to study, according to the state government.
Women speak of anger over another death
One of the organising committee members for the community movement Slutwalk Melbourne, Tegan Leeder, spoke of her anger about Ms Maasarwe's death and said many women were worried about getting home safely.
"I definitely feel sick, it's devastating that this young woman coming home from a gig wasn't able to make that journey," she said.
"I'm definitely wary when I catch transport late at night. I'll put my earphones in but I won't play music, so I can hear if someone is behind me.
"And that makes me angry, that I feel that I have to do that, because we live in a society where women are murdered when they're trying to make their way home.
"Even just walking home from the station in broad daylight I had it in the back of my head again, we're made to feel unsafe."
Reclaim the Night Melbourne committee member Catherine said the loss of another woman's life was tough to process, but many women were determined to not be intimidated.
"Having had this happen to people I know and love personally in prior circumstances it certainly brings up a lot of concern, a lot of 'who's going to be next', but it makes me more adamant and stronger that we're not going to change our behaviours, that we're going to continue living our lives," she said.
A silent vigil will be held for Ms Maasarwe on Friday night on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne, where participants are encouraged to wear black.
The event will start at 6pm and will not feature any speeches or music.
- BBC / ABC