Just hours before she was scheduled to depart on her ideal trip to the US, a glamorous yoga instructor was brutally killed in a plush hotel room, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend.
23-year-old Zhou Huixian, also known by her stage name Aqua Chow, was supposed to travel to the US on June 30 to enrol in a three-month yoga training program, but she didn’t show up for the flight.
At Hong Kong’s Ritz Carlton hotel, police discovered the yoga instructor’s blood-covered body in a bathtub with more than 30 stab wounds from a 27-cm knife.
Blood was also splattered on the hotel room’s walls, which the authorities believe was the result of the struggle.
She was killed recently, according to forensics authorities, and died of two 8 cm deep stab wounds to the left side of her chest and throat.
After turning himself in at the Wong Tai Sin Police Station on June 30, her ex-boyfriend Lao Nan, 28, was detained on suspicion of murder.
CCTV footage showed her leave the house on June 29 with a male, but she never came back to catch her flight.
According to her father, Aqua, who has more than 53,000 Instagram followers, was ‘enthusiastic’ about the yoga training course.
My daughter had been eagerly anticipating the vacation, so I realized when she didn’t travel that there must be a significant issue, he continued.
I tried calling and using Whatsapp till the evening, but I was unable to get through to my daughter.
When I arrived at her apartment, I saw that my daughter’s luggage had been left there undamaged.
I was concerned when I later checked with the airline and found that there was no record of her boarding.
Aqua was last seen leaving her house with a male at 4.42 p.m. on June 29 according to surveillance footage.
When Aqua’s ex-boyfriend knocked on the door, one of her pals said that the fitness model had requested for their assistance in packing her bags.
On June 30, when he was unable to reach her, her father became concerned and called the police to report her missing.
When he went to Aqua’s flat at Seaside Sonata in Kowloon’s Sham Shui Po neighbourhood, he found that Aqua had left her luggage there.
She never reportedly boarded the aircraft, according to the airline for her travel to the US.
Lao Nan, Aqua’s former partner, allegedly declined to speak with authorities but did provide them with the hotel key card.
Officers discovered Aqua’s body at the Ritz Carlton in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood in a blood-spattered hotel room.
A representative for the Yau Tsim District Police stated that barriers were promptly erected to obstruct the area around the crime scene. Murder suspicion led to the suspect’s arrest.
The suspect was taken to the victim’s and his homes on July 1 at 4 a.m. to conduct searches and gather evidence. In the parking lot, he was also escorted to a car.
A 27-cm-long knife that was thought to be connected to the case was discovered by officers in the bathtub. Detectives think the guy purchased the knife on his own.
‘Detectives seized a collection of evidence, including rucksacks, knives, and towels covered in blood. They were brought back to the department for review.
According to a preliminary inquiry, Lao reserved the hotel room on June 28 and stayed there for two days.
Aqua allegedly denounced him to the police for threatening her a few months back.
There are further studies under progress.