Rachel Muscat, the 20-year-old who was stabbed to death on Monday, was infatuated with her Libyan boyfriend, according to her strong but tearful father, Joseph Muscat.

Rachel was last seen in the company of 22-year-old Walid Bazena, who is missing, and her butchered corpse was found in his residence at Bir id-Deheb.

Police have mounted an intensive search for Mr Bazena, who was Rachel's "first love" and she his.

"She loved him so much," Mr Muscat said. As a young and naive girl, she was "infatuated".

Mr Bazena himself had threatened to take his own life if she left him, according to her father.

"He would tell her that he would kill himself and she was worried about him. It would have been on her conscience forever. When she decided to stop seeing him, she did what she could to wean him away, afraid that he would do something to hurt himself."

Over the last month, or so, Rachel had tried to end her relationship with Mr Bazena and to come to terms with it. She had stayed in most of the time because she was sad about the separation, her father recalled.

"Last Sunday was the last time we went out together. We persuaded her to come with us to the wine festival at the Upper Barrakka Gardens and she enjoyed it."

Mr Muscat believes that, on the fateful Monday, she had met Mr Bazena with the intention of convincing him "not to do anything stupid to himself".

On Monday, Rachel, a hairdresser, left her place of work, five minutes away from Mr Bazena's residence, and was last seen in the area just after 6 p.m., the police said.

Her mother called her at 7 p.m., wondering where she was, but no one answered the phone.

At 11 p.m., her parents filed a report at the Paola police station that she had not returned home after work.

The police found her body, punctured by 15 stab wounds, about an hour later, lying face down in Mr Bazena's blood-stained room.

The post-mortem has established that the time of her death was between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., police sources said.

Mr Bazena was seen leaving the house alone at about that time.

Mr Muscat said footage from the security camera of a bank by Bazena's Bir id-Deheb residence had been helpful in recording the movements of the two.

Rachel had woken up earlier than usual that morning and gone to Mass. She had said the rosary, as is a daily custom for the Muscat family, who have two other children.

Mr Muscat said an unsent SMS on her mobile phone that day read "God help me SOS". He is curious to know what time it was written.

Mr Muscat said his daughter had known Mr Bazena, who used to come and go from Malta, for about three years.

They had got to know each other in Paceville, where they frequented the same group and, weekend after weekend, their friendship grew and developed.

"We got to know later that she was going out with him and, like all parents, we looked into it to see who he was.

"Because he was coming and going and did not have a fixed job, like all parents, we worried and told her, without pressurising her, that we thought he was not good for her."

Although the family could not understand how she fell for him, Mr Muscat was under the impression that Mr Bazena was always gentle and attentive towards Rachel and never maltreated her in any way.

However, when Rachel started to realise that she should end the relationship, Mr Bazena could not accept it.

"He would call her and cry, threatening to kill himself, which worried Rachel."

To Mr Muscat's knowledge, Rachel went out with Mr Bazena for a year, but had stopped seeing him for a period of time. He had been given the impression that they were not together over the last year and, in fact, Rachel used to go out with her friends.

In reality, she had not completely severed her ties with Mr Bazena and had kept in contact with him.

Rachel was torn between her love for the Libyan man and wanting to please her parents, her father felt.

"She was determined to break it off, but found it very difficult," and the conflict raged inside her, Mr Muscat said.

"We had good relations with our daughter and always reasoned with her," but she was blinded by her love for Mr Bazena.

"He was her first love and that was all she saw."

Mr Muscat is upset with the way sections of the media are dealing with the case, making it seem as though Mr Bazena lived in some kind of a whorehouse, frequented by Libyans.

Mr Muscat said Mr Bazena used to help the owner of the outlet below his residence and was provided with accommodation, a room in his guest house, instead of payment.

Only one other elderly Yugoslav lived in the house with Mr Bazena, he said.

"Ask anyone about Rachel - and she was known by many - and they will tell you what type of a girl she was.

"She was always looking out for others, in particular a friend with terminal cancer, whom she was constantly and patiently taking care of.

"She was a nice girl, wearing her heart on her sleeve, always thinking about others, and with barely any experience of life."

Meanwhile, police want to question Mr Bazena in connection with the murder, but his whereabouts have not yet been established, police sources said.

The police have questioned a number of people, including friends and acquaintances of Mr Bazena.

Bazena is 6 feet 1 inch tall, of medium build, with a dark complexion.

Anyone with information about him can contact the Zejtun district police on 21 221111.