Police investigating the murder of a Chinese woman in Saitama Prefecture have asked China to locate her male friend, who is considered a suspect, police said Tuesday.
The man, who is in his 20s, has already left Japan, police said, alleging that he was involved in the killing of Rissho University student Liu Suqin, 30. Police have not released the man's identity.
Liu was found strangled Feb. 26 in a forest near the university dormitory in Konan, Saitama Prefecture.
The man and Liu attended the same language school in Dalian, eastern China, and joined the university's Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science, police said.
Saitama police said they have named him as a suspect because his fingerprints were found in Liu's room and also because friends of the two and the dormitory caretaker said during interviews that the two had had disputes.