SYDNEY - A 31-year-old Singaporean was charged in Australia on Wednesday (May 10) with attempted murder after he attacked a 20-year-old woman from Hong Kong who was living in Brisbane.
Police in the state of Queensland charged the man on Wednesday night local time.
He was taken to a police cell in Brisbane at about 6pm local time (4pm Singapore) from a hospital ward where he had been receiving psychiatric care.
A police spokesman told The Straits Times that the man had been transferred to a police watch-house. He will appear in court on Thursday.
The man had allegedly previously been in a relationship with the victim after meeting her online several months ago.
Police said he had travelled to Australia to see her previously and arrived again as a tourist on Sunday.
The man has been accused of hitting the woman in the head with a hammer and repeatedly stabbing her in the upper body on Monday night at an Airbnb accommodation that he had rented in the Brisbane suburb of Norman Park.
The woman, named by local media as Sherry Cheung, has been living in Australia. She was treated in a hospital in Brisbane for a fractured skull.
A spokesman for the hospital told The Straits Times that Ms Cheung had been recovering well.
"She is very stable at the moment and is up and walking around," the spokesman said.
"At this time there are no long term injuries that we can see. She is recovering more quickly than expected."
The man fled on foot after the attack, wearing only boxer shorts and a t-shirt, and leaving behind his wallet and passport.
This prompted an overnight manhunt across Brisbane which finally ended after the man was spotted by television news crews returning to his Airbnb rental. The reporters alerted police who arrested the man on Tuesday afternoon.
Queensland police are still investigating the reason for the attack.
"I'm not sure what the motivation is at this point in time," Detective Senior Sergeant Rodney Watts said on Tuesday.
"All the possessions he brought with him when he arrived two days ago have been left where the attack occurred."
Airbnb said it was "deeply concerned" about the incident and was assisting police with the investigation.
