Woman stabbed in shocking daytime attack praises bystanders who rushed to her aid

The woman who was stabbed in the chest on her way to work has praised the courage of the Melburnians who rushed to her aid.

Wan Lai took to Threads the day after she was attacked, writing in Mandarin that the "quick actions" of strangers gave her "precious time".

"This experience gave me a deep appreciation of the impermanence of life," read Meta's translation of her text.

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"But also the courage and warmth of strangers in times of crisis.

"Life is fragile, but as long as you watch each other, you can make the world safer."

The 36-year-old was stabbed on October 2 while walking to work.

Victoria Police did not publish details of the incident at the time.

Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece told reporters on Friday that he was made aware of the incident a week ago.

But neither he, nor Victoria Police, commented publicly until CCTV surfaced in the media two weeks after the attack.

"Melbourne is a safe city," implored Reece.

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"By any international standard, we are a safe city."

The City of Melbourne is in the process of adding 100 CCTV cameras to its system and bringing on 11 community protection officers to patrol the streets.

A heckler – who claimed to be a single woman – interrupted the lord mayor's media conference today, demanding police be positioned on CBD street corners.

"It's very frightening at night," she said calmly.

"To get to Coles on Elizabeth Street, it's not safe."

At Little Bourke Street, where Lai was stabbed, many pedestrians agreed, with one driver telling 9News "my side mirror just got smashed right behind the building".

"It was some drunk homeless person."

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The woman accused of the stabbing attack, 32-year-old Lauren Darul, had been living at a nearby state-funded homeless shelter.

She was on police bail at the time of the alleged attack for attempted theft.

Victoria Police prepared a statement for media at the time of the incident but, with their suspect in handcuffs 90 minutes after the attack, decided "there was no operational or investigative need to proactively issue details of this incident publicly".

"However, Victoria Police understands the immense community interest and concern caused by unprovoked, violent incidents such as these and will ensure this is considered moving forward."

Darul will face the Magistrate's Court on October 21. It's understood she will attempt to apply for bail.

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Speaking from Bendigo, Premier Jacinta Allan insisted the state's bail laws have been toughened to meet community expectations.

"No one who commits such a brazen, violent act on our streets should be on our streets," she said.

From the scene of the crime, Opposition Leader Brad Battin brought along a metal detecting wand, calling for the premier to follow Queensland's lead and bring in Jack's law.

"They're reducing violent crime on the streets each and every day, because the police have the power to take knives off of the most dangerous criminals," Battin said.

"If you're the premier and you're walking around with your security all of the time, you may feel safe.

"But talking to the average Melburnian, that's not the case."

Victoria's new chief of police, Mike Bush, announced plans this week to get more officers out from behind the desk and patrolling the streets. 

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