As a new week began for thousands of students at Glasgow University, talk on campus was about the "shocking" sex attack in Kelvinbridge at the end of Freshers’ Week.
The 17-year-old was heading toward Great Western Road when she was grabbed from behind and dragged into a doorway and raped at around 3am on Sunday.
She was said by police to be "traumatised", but did not require hospital treatment. Her attacker fled in the direction of Belmont Lane.
"It’s definitely made me more wary of going out around there," said Laura Marshall, 18, who lives near Bank Street, where the attack took place. "I have walked home alone lots of times before when I haven’t been able to get a taxi, but I won’t be doing that anymore. You have to avoid side streets, or at least don’t end up alone on a night-out."
This is the second time in three years that a girl has been raped during fresher’s week at Glasgow University. Two years ago a teenager was attacked in a car park on Gibson Street -- which intersects Bank Street -- after a late night party, prompting warnings at the time over student safety.
The victim of Sunday’s assault is not a student, but the location of the incident -- near a popular hub of bars, late-night takeaways, and nightclubs, with a high concentration of student flats -- has led the university to issue safety advice to female students.
Glasgow University
student president, Laura Laws, said: "The west end is one of the safest areas of the city, but the important thing is to take every precaution. Don’t walk home alone in the dark; don’t go down dark alleys; walk home with friends; get public transport."
That safety message was seconded by police, although they believe that they are dealing with an isolated incident.
Sarah Mackinnon, a 19-year-old languages student who lives near Great Western Road, said the attack had cast a "cloud" over the start of the academic year.
"Everyone is a bit shaken up about it," she said. "Obviously you know the
risks of being left alone like that late at night, especially off the main road and everything, but no one ever thinks it will happen to them. It won’t stop people having fun, but people are going to be a lot more careful."
Claire Reid, 20, an English student who lives in Kelvinbridge, added: "I love living in this part of town, but I do think sometimes that it’s a happy hunting ground for people like that who want to attack young women
It just takes one girl to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and guys like this take advantage."
Strathclyde police are appealing to anyone with information to contact them.
The assailant is described as a male in his 30s with a foreign accent, tanned skin, cropped dark hair, and "very dark" eyes.
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