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Australian woman stabbed with a machete during Bali bag snatch

An Australian tourist has been stabbed up to six times with a machete on a beach in Bali.

The attack on Rosse Leal, 40, was so violent it “almost caus[ed] her death,” one of her friends has claimed.

The alleged assault reportedly occurred on the popular tourist beach Padang Padang Beach, south of Kuta, last Thursday evening (local time) during an attempted robbery.

A friend of the victim, who was born in Spain but has an Australian passport, said the alleged offender had tried to steal Ms Leal’s bag when she left the beach and entered a parking area.

Australian-Spanish woman Rosse Leal is tended to by hospital staff after she suffered deep gashes to shoulder, arm and both hands from the machete attack on the Bali beach. Pictured right is a censored photo of a bloody sandal which reportedly belonged to the alleged perpetrator. Source: David Iglesias Megias / Facebook
Australian-Spanish woman Rosse Leal is tended to by hospital staff after the alleged machete attack. Pictured right is a censored photo of a bloody sandal which reportedly belonged to the alleged perpetrator. Source: David Iglesias Megias / Facebook

“She spent the afternoon with friends on the beach. She left and went back to the parking area to take the motorbike with another girl when an Indonesian man carrying a big knife (machete) approached them by motorbike,” David Iglesias Megias wrote on social media.

“He tried to pull her handbag but it was tied to the mirror and he couldn't take it easily, then he took the kni[f]e and stabbed her six times.

“He finally took the handbag and r[a]n away leaving the knife and his sandals.”

Mr Megias shared photos of the attack’s ugly aftermath, showing a blood-soaked sandal and Ms Leal lying in a hospital bed. Her friend said she was badly injured with deep wounds requiring surgery.

Padang Padang Beach, Bali
Investigators say Rosse Leal was with her motorbike in Padang Padang Beach (pictured) carpark on November 21 when she was attacked. Source: Getty, file photo

The alleged perpetrator has since been apprehended by police, 9News reports.

Authorities told the news outlet’s Asian correspondent that the man had fled to a neighbouring island after the attack. During his arrest he was shot in the leg by officers when he tried to escape.

The accused, a 25-year-old farmer from West Nusa Tenggara, told police he tried to rob Ms Leal because he needed money to pay for a hospital bill incurred by the birth of his child.

Police told local media that the investigation is ongoing.

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