Australian jailed for rape and murder of Arab-Israeli student

Body of the victim was found by passers-by near a tram stop in Melbourne hours after she was attacked on her way home

SYDNEY: An Australian man was jailed for 36 years on Tuesday for the rape and murder of Arab-Israeli student Aya Maasarwe, a brutal crime that rocked the country's second-largest city.

Codey Herrmann, now 21, will spend at least 30 years in prison for the January murder that the judge described as a "savage attack".

The body of 21-year-old Maasarwe was found by passers-by near a tram stop in outer Melbourne just hours after she was attacked on her way home.

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She was killed after getting off a tram near the university where she was completing a year-long exchange.

"The rape and murder were completely random offences, committed against a total stranger late at night," Victorian Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Hollingworth said while handing down the sentence.

"Ms Maasarwe was doing nothing more than walking along a public street, on her way home from a night out, as she had every right to do," she added.

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There was an outpouring of grief among Melbournians, who held emotional vigils after Maasarwe's murder, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets calling for an end to violence against women.

There have been several violent attacks against women in Melbourne in recent years, fuelling concerns authorities were not doing enough to improve safety in Australia's major cities.