Her family cleaned and painted their house and preared a list of 500 guests. The wedding never took place.

Ms Yulia's naked body was found stuffed in a cardboard box in a condominium under construction in Queensway on Dec 16. Kamrul, 35, a construction worker, is now on trial in the High Court for killing her.

Among the witnesses on Wednesday were Ms Yulia's mother and younger sister.

Madam Yulismawati, 38, a housewife, said Ms Yulia had called them in October 2007 to say that she and Kamrul were returning before Hari Raya Puasa and asked the family to get ready for their wedding. Hari Raya, which fell on Oct 12 that year came and went without the arrival of the couple.

Ms Yulia called a week later to say that they were unable to make the trip as Kamrul's mother was sick. A few days later, she told them she had broken off the relationship.

However, the couple reconciled and on the evening of Dec 15 Ms Yulia called home to announce that they plan to get engaged and to marry the next December.

She died the next day. The grief still shows on her mother's face two years after her daughter's death. Madam Yulismawati said she initially had no objections to her daughter's marriage.

After the break-up and reconciliation, she was no longer so sure and had sent her daughter some advice via SMS. Written in Bahasa, the message advised her daughter to think deeply over Kamrul's proposal and to consider the feelings of her hometown boyfriend named Roi. She never received a reply and neither did she pursue the matter, she testified.

Madam Yulismawati first learnt that her daughter had a Bangladeshi boyfriend by the name of Raju in 2007.

Raju was another name for Kamrul but the court was not told why he was using an alias. The court also heard that Kamrul was also known as Roy, Roydoe, and Ray Faldo.

Friends of Ms Yulia then testified that they knew of her relationship with Kamrul. The trial continues on Thursday.