The family of a Polish woman who was murdered in Malta on Sunday only learnt about the case from the media.

Relatives of Paulina Dembska also told Polish newspaper Fakt that they did not get the help of a psychologist.

Dembska, 29, was found dead at Sliema's Independence Garden early on Sunday morning.

The Polish student lived at a hostel in Sliema. She was in Malta to study English.

20-year-old Abner Aquilina, suspected of murdering her, is currently being held at Mount Carmel Hospital, where he is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. He has claimed that he was “taken over by the Devil” when he committed the crime, and also that he is “a soldier of God.”

The family told Fakt that no one informed them that their beloved Paulina had been killed.

“Paulina's parents went to bed unaware that their youngest child had been murdered,” the article states.

Their eldest daughter, who lives in Italy, called her parents with the tragic news in the middle of the night.

When the police eventually showed up the following day at around 4pm, they had been mourning her death for hours, having found out about it from the Maltese media.

The family said no one provided them with the help of a psychologist, with the local Polish police telling them that they only had one at their disposal.

“All they got from the officers were instructions on how to bring the body back to Poland.”

Maria Dembska also told Fakt that she was getting ready to travel to Malta to spend some days with her daughter. They were due to return to Poland together on 15 January.  

“Paulina wanted to stay at home with us for a while, and then she was going to Italy to learn the local language,” Maria said.

She described her daughter as a very well-behaved girl. “She didn't party, didn't drink, didn't bring boys home. It is not fair that she suffered such a cruel fate. I can't figure it out at all in my head. I cannot sleep.”

She hopes that people will remember her daughter for the good person she was.

“She wouldn't hurt a fly. She was just terribly unlucky. She was in the wrong place.”

She said she hoped that her daughter’s suffering was not prolonged.

“They say that God needs good people. This is probably why he took my little daughter to his home so quickly,” the distraught mother added.

Paulina’s death was Maria’s second tragedy – the mother of five has already lost a son to a traffic accident.

“There is nothing worse for a mother than to bury her children,” Maria said.