An Israeli student has been killed in a late-night attack in Australia while she was speaking on the telephone with her sister, police said yesterday.
Police appealed to the public for help tracking down the killer of 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe, whose body was found early on Wednesday near the campus of the Melbourne university where she was studying.
“This was an horrendous, horrific attack inflicted on a completely innocent young woman who was a visitor to our city,” Victoria Police Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper told reporters in Melbourne yesterday.
Maasarwe, who was reportedly five months into a year-long exchange at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, was riding a streetcar home from a comedy club to the suburb of Bundoora before she was met by her attacker at about midnight.
She was talking with her sister, who was overseas and raised the alarm after something went awry mid-conversation, police said.
“[Her sister] heard the sound of the phone falling to the ground and heard some voices,” Stamper said.
Her body was found on Wednesday morning by passersby at 7am about 50m from the stop where she exited the tram.
Her sister’s report came in at about the same time, Stamper said.
Police would not confirm reports they were investigating a sexual assault, but said that known sex offenders are an “active line of inquiry.”
Officers retrieved a black baseball cap and a gray T-shirt they believe were worn by the perpetrator from the crime scene, which they described as “very distressing.”
The victim’s family, who are on their way to Australia, described Maasarwe as happy, adventurous and smart.
Aiia Maasarwe was reportedly planning to go to China to work at her father’s business after her studies.
Police said that they were “confident” of finding the perpetrator.
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