Victoria Police is bolstering its patrol numbers at a state forest in regional Victoria after an Indigenous advocate was brutally assaulted on the weekend.
Key points:
- Sissy Austin, 28, says she was randomly attacked by an unknown man at Lal Lal state forest on Saturday
- Police say a man struck her in the head with a hand-made weapon, knocking her unconscious
- Authorities want anyone that saw the incident or have dashcam footage to come forward
Sissy Austin, 28, is recovering at home after an unknown man assaulted her in the Lal Lal State Forest, near Ballarat, on Saturday afternoon.
Ms Austin said she was running along a remote motorbike track when an unknown man with "a rock tied to the end of the stick" approached and attacked her.
She awoke with blood streaming down her face and was forced to run about four kilometres back to her car to her phone to call for help.
Victoria Police Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Coxall said all authorities knew currently was that it was a "random attack on a jogger".
"Nothing like this has occurred in that area in my recent memory, and that’s going back 15 years," he said.
"We've got police combing the area today, they'll be further investigations over the next few days."
Unique case
Ms Austin was running and listening to music via her smart watch when she was attacked.
Sgt. Coxall said that wasn't uncommon, but that the attack itself was unique.
"I suggest in the short term [that] people run in twos," he said.
"We are hopeful of identifying this male."
The attacker is described as Caucasian in appearance and was wearing black jeans, a cap and no shoes or shirt.
"I give the re-assurance that local police are upping patrols and with the community's help we'll solve this," Sgt Coxall said.
"We’ve got a whole team of detectives investigating this, we will identify and locate you.
"What would be in your best interest is to come forward and hand yourself in."