Australian jailed for 36 years for rape and murder of Palestinian student Aya Maasarwe

An Australian man was sentenced to 36 years in prison on Tuesday for the rape and murder of Palestinian student Aya Maasarwe, a shocking and brutal crime that rocked the country's second-largest city.

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

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

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

Details of the incident, which police have described as "horrific", have been withheld from the public amid reports of their graphic nature.

Comment: Australian media is erasing murdered Palestinian student's heritage

"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.

"Aya was physically small, unsuspecting and alone ... she had no opportunity to defend herself," Judge Holligworth said, adding that Maasarwe was a "friendly, optimistic, kind young woman, who had her whole life in front of her".

Maasarwe's family, including her father Saeed, attended the hearing and broke down when details of the murder were recounted.

Herrmann's lawyer had previously asked the court for leniency due to his personality disorder stemming from a severe childhood trauma which had warped his view of the world.

The incident prompted 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.

Thousands attended Maasarwe's funeral in her hometown of Baqa al-Gharbiya in northern Israel after her body was flown back from Australia

Many mourners also held placards protesting violence against women.