LAST month, an Indonesian maid was attacked by four masked men who stormed into her employer's home.

Fearing a further attack, her boss moved her to the premises of his dog kennel business just 500m away.

It didn't help either.

On Wednesday morning, the 24-year-old woman, identified as Ms Fitrian, was found unconscious with more than 20 stab wounds outside a hut at the North American Working Dog Association kennels in the New Territories.

Her employer, Mr Wong King-kok, 58, who is the head of the association's dog activities department, found her body and called the police, reported South China Morning Post.

There was no sign of a struggle and initial investigations showed nothing was stolen.

Said a police investigator: 'It is possible that the victim was taken by surprise. We believe she was attacked around 1am.'

Now, the police are investigating if the killing was linked to last month's attack.

On 1 Dec, Ms Fitrian was assaulted at her boss' home near the kennels by four men in ski masks.

Said a police source: '(They) punched and kicked her. She was also grabbed by the hair and her head was rammed against a wall.'

Investigation revealed that the attack had nothing to do with her employer, whom she had worked for a few years.

According to police records, Ms Fitrian had no debt problems or disputes with others.

After being discharged from hospital a few weeks ago, she moved to the kennels area, thinking it was safer.

The kennels run by the association are used for dog training and breeding.

No one had been arrested and no weapons were found. An autopsy was scheduled for yesterday.