A Dandenong North couple were bashed with a baseball bat as they tried to protect their young daughters from would-be thieves who stormed into their home on Sunday night.
The couple, Pero and Radmila, were watching television when the masked intruders smashed a bedroom window of their Victor Avenue home about 10pm.
Pero, who spoke to Channel Nine, opened the front door to investigate the noise when the intruders forced their way inside.
A struggle broke out as Pero tried to fend off the intruders, while his terrified daughters hid in the bathroom.
Pero was bashed on the head with a baseball bat, fracturing his skull.
Radmila rushed to her husband's aid and together they managed to force the group to the back of the house, before they fled empty handed.
"[I thought] maybe they're going to kill us," Radmila told Channel Nine.
Radmila's hand was hit with baseball bat during the fight, breaking her finger.
"They are just criminals that deserve a really bad punishment," she said.
The couple's terrified daughters hid in the bathroom during the ordeal.
"It was a very scary thing to witness," their 16-year-old daughter told Channel Nine.
"I just remember screaming and just seeing my parents getting attacked."
Police are looking for at least three males and a female. Detectives have released CCTV footage of the group, who were all wearing hooded tops and face coverings.
Overall, burglaries are getting more violent in Melbourne. About one in 12 burglaries across the city involve violence, the latest crime data shows.
Caulfield recorded the highest proportion of violent break-ins, with 26 per cent of the 164 burglaries there involving violent entry.
In Frankston, Berwick and Pakenham, more than 11 per cent of burglaries were aggravated.
And in Ascot Vale and Brunswick, more than 15 per cent of burglaries involved violent entry.
Burglaries in Melbourne
Note the data is for April 2016 – March 2017.
Earlier this year, Police Minister Lisa Neville conceded Victorians did not feel safe in their homes.
"I want people to feel safe in their homes and their communities. The war on this is not over, we're getting on top of this but we've got a long way to go," she said in March.
But in June, she said new figures showed the crime rate was heading in the "right direction" and the trend would continue next time around.
"I'm pretty confident that based on intelligence that we will be in a position of zero growth in the next crime stats, if not negative," she said.
"You will probably hold that against me if it doesn't happen but I'm pretty confident talking to local police that that is the situation, that we're going to continue this downward trend."
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.