Police have charged a 20-year-old with rape and murder following the death of an Arab-Israeli exchange student, whose body was found near a tram stop in Melbourne earlier this week.
Victoria police released CCTV images of Aiia Maasarwe which shows the clothing she was wearing the night she went missing. Photo: Supplied / Victoria Police
Exchange student Aiia Maasarwe, 21, was on her way home from a night out at a comedy club when she was attacked.
Her body was found behind a hedge outside a nearby shopping centre in Bundoora, about 100m from the tram stop.
Codey Herrmann was arrested in the adjacent suburb of Greensborough on Friday and held in police custody overnight.
He appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today and was asked if he understood the charges, to which he replied: "Yes".
He has been remanded in custody to re-appear in court on Monday.
Hundreds of Australians gathered in Melbourne on the steps of Victorian state parliament for a silent vigil in memory of murdered Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe. Photo: AFP
The charges follow an outpouring of grief from Melburnians overnight with hundreds gathering to pay their respects and to support Ms Maasarwe's father, who was present at a city vigil.
Students at La Trobe - where Ms Maasarwe was midway through a one-year exchange - held a vigil for her on Friday afternoon.
Another silent vigil took place on the steps of Victoria's Parliament House in the evening, and a special tram carrying only flowers departed from there in the evening.
It followed the route of her final journey.
-ABC