The victim says she was assaulted by a young woman last month, resulting in a delayed concussion and a visit to Oamaru Hospital.
She said she was punched in the head, and when she was on the ground the woman continued hitting her.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said the response when she reported the assault to police added insult to injury.
She said the officer she spoke to said she could "just be making it all up".
"The officer, he basically said to me ‘Why didn’t you video it? How do we know it happened? You just could be making this all up’," she said.
She said the police officer talked over her, refused to let her speak and walked off, putting the incident down as an "altercation between neighbours".
He also said to the woman it was the other person’s word against hers, and they denied it ever happening.
She said the officer told her charges could not be laid as she "had no credible witnesses".
"He said that even though the next morning I was in A&E in Oamaru getting a CT scan of my neck," she said.
Unimpressed with the officer’s response, the woman went to the Dunedin Central police station to get some help with the incident, however staff told her the case was being handled by the officer she originally spoke to.
"I’m very sceptical about the kind of people the police are training up — that was not a normal response, or an educated, professional response.
"There's something a bit broken in the system."
Otago Coastal Area commander inspector Matenga Gray said police investigated the report, but were not taking the matter further.
"If new information comes to hand we will reassess the situation," he said.
