Melbourne CBD Stabbing Victim Faces Long and Fearsome Road to Recovery After Brutal Daylight Attack
- A 36-year-old woman, Wan Lai, was stabbed in the Melbourne CBD on October 2, leaving her with physical and emotional scars.
- Her family reveals she is still fearful of leaving her home alone, and the incident has left her with a deep sense of unease.
- The alleged attacker, 32-year-old Lauren Darul, is facing multiple charges, including intentionally causing injury and recklessly causing injury.
Wan Lai’s life was forever changed on the morning of October 2, when she was stabbed in a daylight attack in Melbourne’s CBD. The 36-year-old was walking near the intersection of Little Bourke and Spencer streets when a person ran up to her from behind and stabbed her in the front of her body.
Despite making a strong physical recovery, Wan Lai’s family says she is still struggling to come to terms with the emotional aftermath of the attack. Her brother-in-law, Chia Ting, revealed that she is still fearful of leaving her home alone and is constantly on edge when in public.
“She’s still very scared when she’s in public,” Chia Ting said. “When she sees a stranger go past her, she’ll be like ‘oh, I need to stay away from [them]’.”
The incident has also raised concerns about the safety of Melbourne’s CBD, with the city’s Lord Mayor, Nicholas Reece, defending the area’s safety record while acknowledging a rise in crime across Victoria.
Lauren Darul, the alleged attacker, is facing multiple charges, including intentionally causing injury and recklessly causing injury. She is currently being held in custody and is set to apply for bail at a Melbourne Magistrates’ Court hearing on Tuesday.
The incident has also sparked a political backlash, with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli apologizing for comments he made about Melbourne crime. Crisafulli had said that if people lived in Melbourne, they had a place that was “dealing with youth crime, and they won’t get stabbed.”
Liberal opposition MP Richard Riordan said he was “devastated” that safety in Victoria had become a “joke” for the rest of the country. “It’s disappointing to think that Victorians are getting a reputation that it’s no longer safe to just walk in some of our most famous and iconic laneways and streets in the heart of our CBD,” he said.
Statistics released in September showed that crime in Victoria had soared to its highest levels on record, driven by a spike in thefts. The state’s new Police Chief Commissioner, Mike Bush, has unveiled a proposed restructure to Victoria Police, which would see more officers freed up from desk duties to be deployed on the street.