A young woman bravely fought off her would-be-kidnapper only hours after the attempted abduction of a 12-year-old girl in a suburb nearby.
The 20-year-old woman had just gotten off a bus when she was grabbed from behind by a young man who police are still hunting.
She had been walking on Thames Boulevard in Tarneit, a suburb in Melbourne‘s west, at 9.15pm on Wednesday.
Her attacker, believed to be in his late teens to early twenties, was captured on chilling CCTV grabbing the woman before she broke free of his grip.
As she turned to face her attacker, he turned and ran away.
Victoria Police released the CCTV on Saturday morning in which the victim audibly screamed several times including after the man had released her.
The man man fled south on Thames Boulevard towards the intersection of Melpomene Boulevard and is believed to be about 160-165cm tall and of a slim build with short, dark hair.
The young woman was not physically injured during the incident.
‘Investigators would like to speak to the driver of a dark-coloured 4WD that was in the area at the time and might have witnessed the incident,’ police said.
It comes after Melbourne parents were put on high alert following a separate alleged abduction attempt earlier on Wednesday.
A 12-year-old Caulfield Grammar student was waiting for a bus at 7.30pm on Albion Road in Glen Iris when a man in a black car asked her if she ‘wanted a lift’.
Police said the girl refused the offer and walked away before boarding a bus.
Teachers at the prestigious school confirmed the incident in an email to parents who were urged to tell their kids to remain ‘vigilant’ when travelling to and from school.
‘I write to alert you to a reported incident concerning an adult approaching a student from our campus and asking them to get into their vehicle,’ the school’s deputy principal Meg Adem wrote.
‘The incident involved a secondary school student who was approached by a driver in a vehicle as they were waiting at the bus stop. The student refused.’
Ms Adem said staff had ‘met with and supported’ the 12-year-old student and her family and that the mattered had been referred to police.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Victoria Police.
