BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A Chinese student at Indiana University who was fatally stabbed was the victim of an abusive, controlling relationship by a man who followed her to southern Indiana from the state of Washington, police said Wednesday.
On Sept. 30, the day that she would be found dead hours later with more than 10 stab wounds, Yaolin Wang, 21, had sent a text message to a friend with words to the effect that “my nightmare is back,” Bloomington Police Capt. Joe Qualters said.
Her alleged abuser, Chuanlin Xiao, 20, was found hanged near her body in an apartment complex common area, Qualters said.
“Wang did not want anyone to know of the problems she was having with Xiao and did not seek outside assistance from school officials or law enforcement,” Qualters said in a news release. “Friends of Wang tried to intervene on her behalf, but Xiao informed them that he came from a powerful family in China who could retaliate against their families there if they were the cause of him getting into trouble in the United States.”
Wang, originally from Jiyuan city in China’s northwestern Henan province, had transferred to IU from North Seattle Community College, where she met Xiao last spring.
“It appears that Xiao almost immediately imposed himself on Wang by moving into her residence there and refused to leave. There may also have been physical and mental abuse toward Wang as Xiao tried to assert control over her life,” Qualters said.
After a trip home to China over the summer, Wang moved to Bloomington. On Aug. 22, two days before the start of IU’s fall semester, Xiao arrived in Bloomington and once again moved in with Wang and refused to leave, Qualters said. He stole her passport, hid her cosmetics and forcing her to give him money.
Xiao returned to Seattle on Sept. 19 but returned unannounced to Bloomington on Sept. 30, Qualters said.
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