AWFUL

Israeli Student Murdered While Chatting With Sister on FaceTime: Authorities

Aiia Maasarwe, 21, had arrived in Melbourne—which is considered one of the safest cities in the world—five months earlier.

A 21-year-old Israeli exchange student was murdered in Australia earlier this week while speaking to her sister on FaceTime, authorities say. The New York Post reports Thursday that Aiia Maasarwe was returning home from a comedy show around midnight when she was ambushed by a yet-unidentified suspect. “[Her sister] heard the sound of the phone falling to the ground and heard some voices,” Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said Thursday. “Nothing in the victim’s background indicates this was anyone known to her. So yes, unfortunately, the presumption at this stage is this was a random and opportunistic attack,” Stamper added. Maasarwe was found Wednesday morning, partially clothed, with some of her belongings nearby. The attack has shocked the residents of Melbourne, which is reportedly considered to be one of the safest cities in the world, and devastated her family. “I can’t believe that something like this has happened in Australia. It’s not safe there in Australia? In Melbourne? It’s not safe?” her uncle told The Age. “We think America is dangerous, not Australia.”