TAIPEI:Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday apologised to the family of a Malaysian student murdered in southern Taiwan, as well as to the people of Malaysia over the incident that took place this week, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

"The president expressed her deepest apologies to the family of the student and the people of Malaysia," according to Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang.

The incident seriously tarnished Taiwan's image as a safe and friendly nation, and exposed problems in Taiwan's society that must be thoroughly reviewed so as to ensure that such a tragedy does not occur again, Tsai said during a high-level national security meeting in Taipei.

Meanwhile, Premier Su Tseng-chang also extended his apologies on behalf of the government, pointing out that he has instructed the relevant agencies to assist the victim's family in dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy.

The 24-year-old victim who studied at a university in Tainan was reported missing by the school on Thursday morning.

Footage captured on CCTV cameras showed her walking by herself along a railway overpass near the university at around 8 pm Wednesday before she was reported missing.

Through the CCTV footage, police found and arrested a suspect on Thursday on suspicion that he had abducted the victim near the university.

The suspect later confessed that he had strangled the victim with a length of rope and dumped her body in the mountainous Alian District in neighbouring Kaohsiung.

Based on his confession, police were able to discover the victim's body.

The suspect was detained for voluntary manslaughter and sexual assault and the case is now in the hands of the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office in Kaohsiung.

-- BERNAMA