An asylum seeker has been arrested for the suspected murder of 17-year-old Lisa, who is believed to have been fatally stabbed as she cycled home from a night out in Amsterdam in the early hours of Wednesday.

At a press conference in Amsterdam, the head of public prosecution René de Beukelaer announced that a 22-year-old man, resident at COA asylum centre in the capital, had been arrested.

He is suspected of murdering the young student from Abcoude and of raping a woman in Amsterdam a week ago.

The man has also been linked with another assault on a woman in Amsterdam on August 10. Head of police Peter Holla said that the attack was at first thought to have been attempted robbery but police are now assuming a sexual motive.

At a press conference with the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, and mayor of Ouder-Amstel Susanne de Roy, they urged any witnesses of the attack on the teenager – named only as Lisa – to come forward.

After a night with friends in central Amsterdam, Lisa had intended to cycle home to Abcoude on her electric bike, a route she had frequently taken, at around 3.30am. She called 112 for help but by the time police found her – at the water’s edge along the Holterbergweg close to the Johan Cruijff Arena stadium – she had died of stab wounds, including to her neck.

De Beukelaer said the clues pointed to the same person, an asylum seeker residing at a COA centre who was arrested yesterday as a suspect in the earlier rape. “On the basis of the findings of the investigation, we have the serious suspicion that it was one and the same suspect,” he said.

“We think that the arrested suspect was also involved in a third incident…an attempted sexual assault. We wanted to make this known as quickly as possible because every day we see and hear that people are so affected and afraid.”

“Appalling”

Halsema said the murder was “appalling and unforgivable” and that there would be extra measures to protect Dutch women against violence. “As a mayor, but also as a woman and a mother, this past week chilled my heart,” she said. “But I was also angry… Thousands of women are now rightfully demanding back the night.”

She added that women should be able to live their lives freely and without angst. “What should be self-evident – the safety of women and girls – is not self-evident. This is a disgrace to our society.”

No more details have been released about the nationality of the suspect, who will face a preliminary hearing with primary charges of murder and rape in court on Monday.