Helena Rautalio-Bach said the police should have provided more protection for the two teenagers who had witnessed the sexual assault: “That’s very cruel. The woman was crying, and the guy is smiling and giving her support.”

“It makes you think about whether or not we were really protecting them for as long as we were saying that we were. It’s almost as if we forgot that they had even seen the crime coming.”

There have been numerous complaints in the past about the failure by the police to properly deal with reports of rape and other crimes, according to a study by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism. The paper’s executive editor, Greg Jericho, said the newsroom also had complaints about poor reporting and inadequate staffing levels.

Victorian police chief commissioner Graham Ashton has told a parliamentary inquiry that the sexual assault of a 12-year-old in a west-end park does not appear to have sparked the state’s current anti-terror raids.

A spokeswoman for Victoria Justice said the woman had taken her complaint to the police immediately after being raped.

“It must not have been a moment to savour for the people who watched her being raped,” she said.

“Obviously this is an extremely difficult time for her. Police have a lot to do but there’s a very important point of view in this case that she didn’t make.”