Updated
The uncle of a 21-year-old Israeli exchange student whose body was found yesterday in Melbourne says she was a “very smart” and “funny” student who had moved to Australia to further her business studies.
Key points:
- Aya Masarwe’s uncle said he could not believe the killing happened in Australia
- Women who work on early shifts nearby said the death had hit close to home
- Police are urging anyone who travelled on the Route 86 tram on Tuesday night to contact them
The body of Aya Masarwe was found yesterday near a tram stop on Plenty Road in Bundoora.
Homicide investigators believe she was assaulted and killed shortly after getting off the number 86 tram.
She was returning home from a show at comedy club The Comics Lounge in North Melbourne.
Police have released images of a t-shirt and cap found at the scene, which they believe were left by Ms Masarwe’s killer.
Ms Masarwe’s uncle, Rame Masarwe, said his niece was an Arab-Israeli student who was in Melbourne on exchange as part of her studies at Shanghai University.
Mr Masarwe, who is based in the US city of Miami, said he learnt of his niece’s death in a phone call from a relative.
“I was in shock, I couldn’t believe it … the day before my wife had said to me, ‘We’ll have to go to Australia, Australia’s very safe, very nice’,” he said.
“We cannot believe that something like this happened in Australia, we think it’s very safe there.”
Mr Masarwe said the victim’s father had told him that she had gone to a comedy show on Tuesday night and was returning about 11:00pm when she was attacked.
Ms Masarwe’s father has already flown into Melbourne, where he has been speaking to police as they continue to search for his daughter’s killer, he said.
Floral tributes have been laid where Ms Masarwe’s body was found by passers-by about 7:00am yesterday, behind a hedge near the Polaris shopping centre near Plenty Road.
Victim planned to work with her father
“She was a very good person, she was a very happy person … she was adventurous, she was smart, she was silly,” he said.
Mr Masarwe said his niece moved to Melbourne about five months ago and had planned to stay for a year.
Photo:
Friends of Ms Masarwe were among those to leave cards and tributes. (ABC News: James Hancock)
She was intending to use her business degree to work alongside her father, who runs a business in China.
Mr Masarwe said when he last spoke to his niece several months ago she told him she was having a good time and liked life in Melbourne.
Police said yesterday the woman appeared to have been assaulted and said that there was an “active line of inquiry” into whether she was sexually assaulted.
La Trobe and RMIT universities both have campuses in Bundoora, making the northern suburb a popular place for students to live.
RMIT University has confirmed to the ABC that they have not been contacted by police over the death. La Trobe declined to comment.
One card left near the place where Ms Masarwe’s body was found said, “I will miss you so much, and your positive energy”.
“I love you [now] and always.”
“Our heart breaks that you could not walk home alone safely,” another card read.
“As community members in Bundoora we care!!”
‘We want to stick together’
Three women who work at the nearby shops were the first people to visit the scene, where they laid roses and tulips on milk crates.
Kylie Fitzgerald, who works at a supermarket, said she felt it was important to lay the tributes as a mark of solidarity.
“It just saddens you … we just wanted to stand together as a community of women and just come down and pay our respects,” she said.
“As women we stick together, and we feel it. It happens to a lot of people but when it hits so close to home, it really affects you.
“Especially for, I suppose, the ladies that have to start quite early in the morning and it’s quite dark when you come into work, so it is frightening.”
Becky Blenner, who works at a coffee shop, said her work shifts often start when it is still dark.
“I start work at 5:30 in the morning, me and another girl as well … it’s scary,” she said.
“We feel sorry for her, we want to stick together, it’s sad, it’s horrible.”
Police man tram stop
Police this afternoon released details of Ms Masarwe’s movements on the night she died.
CCTV footage shows her leaving The Comic’s Lounge on Errol Street in North Melbourne wearing a white t-shirt with black lettering on the front, a black dress and white shoes.
She also appears to have a black backpack.
Friends dropped her off at a tram stop on Bourke Street in the CBD around 10.50pm, from where she boarded a route 86 tram to Bundoora.
They say she got off the tram where Plenty Road intersects with Main Drive, less than 100 metres from where her body was found.
Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said two items of clothing — a black baseball cap with 1986 written across the front, and a grey and black t-shirt — were found nearby.
“This is the key to solving this crime,” he said.
“Anyone that can provide any assistance with those, we are desperate to hear from them.”
Police have increased their presence in the area following the death, with officers stationed at the nearby tram stop last night.
Detectives and other uniformed police were seen continuing to gather evidence from the scene overnight.
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