Headington, Oxford: A 19-year old student at Oxford Brookes University attempted to kill herself after alleging she was gang-raped by four international student sportsmen. One of the accused was studying at the university despite already being under investigation over other alleged sexual assaults in the United States. The British female accused the international students at Oxford Brookes of attacking her when she visited their house to collect a pair of headphones.
Oxford Brookes University is facing heat over why one of the accused was allowed to join the university despite being under investigation over two allegations of rape by a female student in the United States. The university, however, expelled three of the four accused in the gang-rape allegation. One of the expelled appealed and got his punishment reduced to a term's suspension after being directed to write a letter of apology to the victim. A fourth student was served a written warning.
According to reports by The Times, the female student tried to kill herself by overdosing after the alleged attack and spent seven weeks in a psychiatric hospital.
The accused joked about having a 'group sex' with the victim
The victim claimed that she laughed when the accused first raised the idea of 'group sex', however, when she returned to the room they were in, she noticed furniture was moved and bottles of alcohol were placed. "Suddenly the mood changed and it became less of a joke," she told The Times. "Rather, it was 'You've said this, you're all talk, you owe us, you promised this to us'. "I just kept saying 'I said that a week ago, I don't owe you anything'. They were like 'No, you owe us group sex, you've agreed to it, we have the proof'," she added.
'Ambiguity over consent'
The accused, however, alleged that the female student had agreed to the idea of group sex in earlier text messages and that she initiated the sexual activity. Taking into account the victim and the accused students' testimonies, Thames Valley Police concluded that there was ambiguity over consent and dropped the investigation.
An investigation by the university, however, admitted to a breach of university regulations by three of the four accused students in connection with the victim's complaints. The university investigation stated that the students "had not taken appropriate care to establish that consent was present throughout the entire evening and this constitutes abuse."
