A New Zealand television presenter has spoken on air about the terrifying moment she was kidnapped off the street while in Australia.
Melissa Chan-Green, co-host of New Zealand’s AM, recalled being grabbed by a man on a Sydney street “a few years ago.”
“I was walking down the street and at the time there were reports in Sydney that a man had been seen sexually harassing women,” he said on Friday’s show.
“This man was running straight towards me in a suit but barefoot and he looked a little distressed, so I stopped for a bit and thought, ‘Are you okay?’
Melissa Chan-Green, co-host of New Zealand’s AM, recalled being grabbed by a man on a Sydney street “a few years ago.”
“He ran up to me, got really close, grabbed me and said, ‘I’ve got you,’ and then ran away.
“It left me a little shaken and I went and called the police and said, ‘You know, this has happened… I know I didn’t expect everyone to go looking for it, but I’m going to report it in case it does.'” part of a pattern’, and (the response) was actually quite dismissive’.
Ms Chan-Green told the story as part of a discussion about whether police are taking the issue of harassment seriously enough after the recent murder of a woman in New Zealand.
It is understood Farzana Yaqubi, 21, made online complaints to police after fearing for her safety, and eight weeks later she was allegedly stabbed to death in Auckland.
“He ran towards me, got really close, grabbed me and said, ‘I’ve got you’ and then ran away,” Chan-Green said of their encounter on a Sydney street, as the show’s hosts raised questions about whether police are taking the issue of harassment in New Zealand very seriously after a woman was recently murdered
The Independent Police Conduct Authority found that Yaqubi told police she lived in extreme fear, but was still killed by a man in broad daylight in late 2022.
“It’s absolutely shocking,” Ms Chan-Green said.
“We certainly don’t want to suggest that if you were in that position you wouldn’t go and report it because you absolutely do.”
“Police are looking at their systems around this and promising changes.”