Another Woman, 28-Year-Old Qi Yu, Was Allegedly Murdered Last Week In Australia
Her housemate has been charged with her murder.
As tributes started flooding in for Eurydice Dixon last week, police sent out a plea for information relating to the disappearance and suspected murder of another woman in Australia: 28-year-old Qi Yu, who lived in Sydney.
Contact was last made with Yu over a week ago, on Friday 8 June, when she spoke to her family in China over the phone. Police have since charged her male housemate, Shuo Dong, with murder.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Dong was refused bail on Wednesday and is due to face court again on 9 July.
Many have pointed out how comparitively little media attention the death of Qi Yu has received:
What a fucked week. Two women murdered by men. I only really heard about one of them. This woman was killed by her fucking housemate. https://t.co/MlGsAU3e5O
— Nayuka (@NayukaGorrie) June 17, 2018
Vale Qi Yu. Say her name.
Another young woman senselessly killed within days of Eurydice Dixon. This is a national tragedy.— Eliza Berlage (@verbaliza) June 17, 2018
2 women murdered just days apart in AUS; very different reactions to their deaths. Eurydice Dixon on Wed. Qi Yu the previous Friday. The latter was allegedly killed by one she lived with though – a more common kind of femicide less reported https://t.co/WV0Fg4a12h
— Pauline Vetuna (@paulinevetuna) June 16, 2018
Hey white people, your outrage over Euridyce Dixon’s murder is totally justified, but do you feel even a flicker of the same outrage when a woman of colour is murdered in Australia? https://t.co/oXwoNSXZpE
— Zoya Patel (@zoyajpatel) June 17, 2018
Police have asked anyone who saw Yu’s car around Sydney to come forward. While it was located on Saturday June 9 four kilometres from her Campsie sharehouse, phone records accessed by police revealed the car to have been in Hornsby, Berowra, Cowan and Mount Ku-rin-gai up until around midnight the night prior.
Police do not know whether Yu, Dong or someone else was driving the car on Friday night — but they’ve called out to the public to ask whether anyone spotted suspicious behaviour at any of those locations. Police say that the car was a Toyota Corolla Hatchback with green P-plates and the number plate DLK-13P.
“[The car] may have been parked on the roadway, or in a car park or bushland, a boat ramp, or somewhere that might assist us in narrowing down a search,” Detective Superintendent Kerrie-Anne Lewis told reporters on Friday.
“Belongings or any sort of female items of clothing may assist us,” she continued. “That’s why we’re appealing for people who may be out and about this weekend, whether they are bush walking or mountain biking or something like that, if they come across any of that type of material, to please contact Crime Stoppers or Campsie Police.”
You can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
According to Destroy The Joint, this is the 30th suspected or confirmed death due to violence against women in Australia this year. In 2017, 51 women were murdered in Australia.