A man has been charged with the murder of a 19-year-old Chinese woman last year, in what was one of three alleged killings of international students during the pandemic.
At least three female international students were allegedly murdered in Australia in 2020, which Guardian Australia revealed in November.
Liqun Pan, a 19-year-old student from China, was found dead in her apartment in Sydney’s Wolli Creek on 28 June last year.
On Wednesday, New South Wales police charged a 21-year-old man with her murder, after a lengthy investigation.
On 27 June last year, police and emergency services found the man, believed to be Pan’s boyfriend, after he had fallen from the fourth floor of a unit block in Wolli Creek. The man had serious injuries and was taken to St George hospital in Kogarah for treatment.
As part of investigations, police then attended a unit in Wolli Creek where they found Pan’s body.
On Wednesday, police returned to St George hospital where the man continues to receive treatment for his injuries sustained from the fall. They interviewed him before formally charging him with Pan’s murder. The man appeared via video link before Sutherland local court and was refused bail.
In August, Brazilian nursing student Daiane Pelegrini was allegedly stabbed to death in Sydney, and a man she reportedly dated, David Tran, has been charged with her murder.
In May, nursing student Kamaljeet Sidhu, 27, from India died from a stab wound to the neck in Sydney, and her husband, Baltej Singh Lailna, has been charged with her murder.
Advocates told Guardian Australia last year that the federal government needed to do more to support women on temporary visas, including international students, during the pandemic.
In April, 67 domestic violence organisations signed an open letter to federal and state ministers asking them to “act immediately” to provide women on temporary visas experiencing violence access to Medicare, social security and housing.
