By Sherryn Groch
Warning: Distressing content
A man has been arrested after a woman was fatally stabbed in front of her children in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
Police rushed to Bayswater about 11.15am on Saturday to reports that a woman had been stabbed at a home on Cousin Drive. Homicide detectives are now investigating.
Police on the scene in Bayswater. Credit: Simon Schluter
The 51-year-old woman was found dead inside the property. She has not yet been formally identified.
A 47-year-old Bayswater man who lived nearby was arrested at a neighbouring driveway soon after, and has since been taken to hospital as a precaution.
Senior Sergeant Chris Ellway said the woman and the man were known to each other but were not in a relationship, and it was not a family violence incident.
He said the exact circumstances were still being investigated, but it appeared that the victim was attacked after answering her door to the alleged offender.
Three teenage witnesses were at the home at the time, the woman’s two children and their friend, the 17-year-old son of the alleged offender.
That boy received minor lacerations during the incident and all three children were being looked after at the police station, Ellway said.
“It is very confronting,” he said, adding it was believed to be an isolated incident.
Pezhman Mohtari said he was renovating a house nearby on Cousin Drive when he saw a boy screaming and running across the road.
He says a man came out of a house and grabbed the teenage boy, dragging him back inside.
“I was really shocked and then the police came and I heard about [the woman inside],” Mohtari said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
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