The family of a Malaysian student murdered in Taiwan will be allowed to come to Taiwan and will travel in a protective bubble to minimize contact with the public, Deputy Interior Minister Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said Friday (Oct. 30).



Chen, who is also part of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) responsible for Taiwan's COVID-19 response, said that by traveling in the bubble, the family will not have to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine usually required of arrivals in Taiwan.



As a safety precaution, however, the family members will be required to wear a face mask at all times when outdoors, and be subject to a COVID-19 test every three days, Chen said.



The victim surnamed Chung (鍾), a student of Chang Jung Christian University in southern Tainan, was found dead just across the city's border with Kaohsiung in the woods of Alian District.



Police later arrested a suspect in the case Thursday evening and identified him as a 28-year-old Taiwanese man with the last name Liang (梁).



Yang Ching-yu (楊慶裕), who heads the Tainan City Police Department's Gueiren Precinct, told reporters Friday that Liang abducted the student near her school sometime after 8 p.m. Wednesday, which is the last time she was seen alive.



Liang confessed to strangling the student with a length of rope and dumping the body in the mountainous Alian District, Yang said.



According to a police investigation, it appeared that the student did not know Liang, who is believed to have been preying on women walking alone on an isolated road near a railway overpass in Tainan.



Liang said he abducted the girl for the purpose of raping her, the precinct chief said.



Yang said that when Chung's body was found, her clothes were in disarray, but no further details were released.



The case of Chung's death has been handed over to the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office in Kaohsiung for further investigation.