Sliema murder suspect Abner Aquilina has been released from Mount Carmel Hospital and his police interrogation will resume, The Malta Independent can reveal.

Sources said Aquilina will immediately return to a state of arrest and will have to be arraigned in court within 48 hours.

The 20-year-old is suspected of murdering Paulina Dembska on 2 January. The 29-year-old English language student was found dead at Independence Garden on the second day of the year, at around 6:20am. An autopsy confirmed that she had been raped and strangled. The investigation has confirmed that this was a random killing, with no known link between victim and suspect.

Aquilina reportedly confessed to the murder of the Polish national on two occasions – first after he was restrained by a group of men inside the Balluta church shortly after the crime, and then during the police interrogation.

Officers had to suspend their interrogation when Aquilina allegedly claimed that the Devil had told him to kill. Aquilina, who had attended a meeting of the Evangelical group River of Love the night before the killing, told police he was “doing God’s work” but said the Devil had “entered his thoughts” the night before Dembska was murdered.

According to reports, Aquilina ran into the Carmelite church a short while later and caused a commotion, knocking some chairs over before he was restrained. He allegedly told the people holding him down that he had killed a woman. Reports that he claimed he had planned to kill other have been dismissed.

Aquilina was taken to the police headquarters for questioning but a mental health specialist was brought in when he made the demonic claims. He was later referred to Mount Carmel hospital, where he is reportedly being administered heavy medication. According to Times of Malta, Aquilina is being kept under police guard but is not suicidal. The newspaper also reported that it could be weeks before the suspect is arraigned in court.

While the interrogation had to be suspended, the investigations continued, with police combing through CCTV footage.

A team of psychiatrists was tasked with determining whether the troubled youngster is fit to stand trial. It is understood that he has been declared fit to continue being interrogated and eventually be arraigned.