Student raped in her own Sussex halls

A female student at the University of Sussex was raped in the early hours of the 20th of September on Falmer campus.

The 20-year-old student was followed back to her room after she had been outside the hall of residence with friends.

It is unknown whether the attacker himself was a student. He has been described as black or mixed race, between the height of 5’9 and 5’11, aged 19 or 20, and speaking in broken English.

Officers are speaking to students and reviewing CCTV footage to try and hunt down the rapist.

The victim reported it to medical staff on the university campus, and the rape was eventually reported to the police by Sussex University four days later.

The University’s policy states on the website that: “In line with other Universities, (Sussex University) has a duty to report any crime of which it learns to the police. This is particularly important when other students may be at risk.”

Sussex Police said officers had spent the last week searching for the offender.

Detective Sergeant Simon Dunn said: “The victim is understandably very shaken by what has happened.

“We urgently need to trace the man involved and to speak to anyone who was on the Falmer campus late on Friday night or early on Saturday morning [19-20 September].”

A university spokesperson: “Our first thoughts are with the woman who was attacked. We are appealing to anyone with information to share it with the police.

“We are doing all we can to support the police, including making available all CCTV footage and contacting students who are resident on campus to appeal for information.”