THE BODY of the young woman murdered in Dublin a week ago has been formally identified.
The Sri Lankan parents of Ms Belinda Pereira (26) visited the city morgue on Saturday, and also spoke to detectives.
The family is expected to decide today whether Ms Pereira's body will be cremated in Dublin or returned to London, where she lived with her mother.
The family arrived in London from Sri Lanka on Saturday morning and flew into Dublin during the afternoon. Ms Pereira's mother had flown to Sri Lanka to spend the Christmas season there. The family was contacted through Interpol after the murder and were said by officers to be "very shocked" at the circumstances of Ms Pereira's death. It is understood they were not aware she had come to Dublin to work as a prostitute over Christmas week.
Ms Pereira, who had previously worked in Dublin for short periods, had been due to return to London on New Year's Eve. She had rented an apartment at Mellor Court in Liffey Street, where her body was found at 3 p.m. on Sunday of last week. She had last been seen alive at 10 p.m. the previous night.
Gardai investigating the murder say a number of clients of the woman have already made contact with them, but they would like to hear from anyone else who gas at the apartment or saw any suspicious activity at the building on Saturday night and Sunday morning of last week. The murder weapon - a blunt instrument - has not yet been found.