Schoolgirl fends off abductor
Police are searching for a brazen attacker who tried to grab a schoolgirl after she disembarked from a tram and then followed her home.
Authorities have praised the efforts of the 12-year-old girl from Melbourne who fended off the man she said had been staring at her on a tram as she returned home from school.
The girl disembarked at Gordon St in Maribyrnong shortly before he allegedly grabbed her arm and said "let's go". The girl broke free and ran some 700m to her house with her attacker following.
She had purposefully taken a different direction to her front door having noticed the man’s behaviour prior.
Police are searching for the assailant, who was wearing orange high-vis workwear. There were no security cameras on the tram but authorities have been able to look at nearby street cameras and issue a face image.
The girl once inside her home called her father, who immediately tried to find the man without success.
Senior Constable Fahd Ahmed said the girl showed great bravery.
"It was brazen and very frightening for her and she was brave and showed a lot of presence of mind and courage under the circumstances," he told reporters today.
The attack occurred on a busy shopping strip and police are calling on anyone who may have witnessed the attempted abduction to come forward.
