Woman fleeing intruder dies in fall

By Chen Qian  |   2008-10-29  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

AUSTRALIAN police are searching for a suspect involved in the death of an 18-year-old Chinese student who fell from the fourth floor balcony of her Sydney apartment while trying to escape from an intruder.

The Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Sydney said yesterday that the woman, Wei Liao, slipped and fell from the balcony when she tried to flee. Her body was found naked on the ground below her balcony.

Wei's Korean boyfriend, Chris Han, 19, also fell shortly after, but survived. Han suffered a broken back, pelvis and broken legs and is in critical condition, according to the statement. He was also naked.

The consulate's statement said the couple's roommate and a friend hid in a locked room during the burglary and were not harmed.

A Sydney Morning Herald report said it was believed the couple had been forced at knife-point to perform sex acts.

Police said the °?intruder, whom investigators described as dark-skinned and aged about 30, followed the couple's friend into the apartment building about noon on Sunday, according to a report in the Guangdong Province-based newspaper New Express.

Once in the lift, the man held a knife to the woman's throat, took her upstairs and forced his way into the flat, where he locked the door and held everyone hostage.

Peter Price, managing director of Taylors College in Australasia, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Wei moved to Australia with the hope of studying at the University of Sydney.

Wei and Han had both enrolled in a program designed to make it easier to get a place at the university.

Wei's family is planning to travel to Australia. It was not known which province the woman came from.