Australian jailed for 36 years over rape and murder of Israeli student

 A judge in Australia has sentenced a man to 36 years in prison for raping and murdering an Israeli woman studying in Melbourne.

Codey Herrmann pleaded guilty to the attack and murder of Aiia Maasarwe, which took place in January in Melbourne. He was sentenced on Tuesday in Victoria state Supreme Court.

Maasarwe, from the central Israeli city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, was an exchange student at La Trobe University in Melbourne from Shanghai University in China. She had been on a Facetime video call with her sister late on Jan. 15 when the phone was knocked from Maasarwe’s hand. Her sister heard screaming, according to reports.

Herrmann pleaded guilty to repeatedly beating Maasarwe with a metal pole, sexually assaulting her and setting her on fire in the attack, the Associated Press reported. He asked for leniency, citing that he has a personality disorder as the result of childhood trauma. the leniency was denied.

The victim’s family on Sunday launched the Aiia Maasarwe Memorial Medical Fellowship program through Project Rozana, an organisation that seeks to build better understanding between Palestinians and Israelis via health programs, the Times of Israel reported, citing the organisation’s website.