Australian National University student raped in Sri Lanka: reports

Updated

Sri Lankan police are reportedly searching for a man suspected of raping an Australian university student over the weekend.

Sri Lankan media says the woman is in the country with a group of students from the Australian National University (ANU).

She had reportedly been working at a turtle hatchery near the southern town of Ambalongoda.

It is believed she was raped on a beach near the town.

Police are now searching for the suspect, believed to be a local man.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says it is providing consular assistance to a young Australian woman in Sri Lanka.

A spokeswoman says the woman has requested privacy.

ANU says it has has not received any official report of such an incident from a student or staff member but is in contact with DFAT.

Vice chancellor Professor Ian Young says the university is doing all it can to verify the reports.

"If indeed it is one of our students that's been affected, we take these things very seriously and we would of course offer all of our counselling and support services," he said.

"Many of our students do in fact travel during their semester breaks and many of them in fact get involved in volunteer programs which are run independently of the university."

Map: Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka

Topics: crime, police, travel-health-and-safety, sri-lanka, canberra-2600, australia

First posted