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Photo:
Stephen Jaquiery
Otago Daily Times
February 28, 2004
Student's claim of rape investigated
by Chris Morris
Police have launched an investigation into claims a
21-year-old student was attacked and raped after stopping to adjust her shoe
in the grounds of the University of Otago early yesterday.
The woman, a third-year university student, told police she was cutting
through the campus from the north side, on her way to meet friends at the
Bowling Green Tavern, when the attack happened just after midnight.
Detective Sergeant Malcolm Inglis, of the Dunedin CIB, said the woman had
stopped to fix her shoe, on a patch of grass near the university staff club,
when a man approached, attacked and raped her.
The incident lasted about 10 minutes and the woman was left "obviously
distressed" and with unspecified physical injuries, Det Sgt Inglis said.
Police were seeking witnesses to the attack, which occurred in a well-used
thoroughfare.
"Obviously, any rape is a vicious attack on a young girl. There should
be people around in that area that should have seen something or witnessed
something."
Of particular interest to police were two men who spoke to the woman before
and after the incident, although Det Sgt Inglis stressed they were not
considered to have been involved in the attack.
The woman had spoken to one male from Aquinas College,
aged about 17, in the campus area just before the incident, and another male
had given her a ride on his bicycle to the Bowling Green Tavern just after
the attack.
The woman had not told the man of the attack, but still wanted to meet her
friends as she was unwilling to return home alone, Det Sgt Inglis said.
Police urged the two men to contact police, and anyone else who saw anything
unusual in the area around midnight.
The woman eventually contacted police about 4.30am to report the attack. The
offender was described as a Maori or Polynesian, of solid build, with short
black hair, aged in his 20s and about 170cm-180cm tall. He was wearing a grey
T-shirt with a design on the front.
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