US prosecutors reopen case of alleged gang rape at Cornell University

New York state prosecutors said they will reopen a criminal inquiry into the alleged rape of a woman at Cornell University in 2024.

The woman filed a civil lawsuit on 16 September alleging she was drugged and raped by multiple people at a fraternity house at the university.

"Once we determine the appropriate charges, the case will be prosecuted in the most objective and impartial means possible" through a grand jury, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday.

Cornell University said that while it supported the case being brought before a grand jury, "any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false".

The woman, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, alleges in her lawsuit that on the night of 19 October 2024, seven men from Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity chapter allegedly assaulted her in an incident involving alcohol and the drug ketamine.

Jane Doe said in her lawsuit that she was intoxicated during the alleged incident and was incapable of providing consent.

She said she reported the incident to Cornell University Police on 8 November 2024.

The lawsuit also contains an image purported to be from a Snapchat fraternity group chat, in which a participant alerted other members, in vulgar terms, to the potential for a sexual encounter with Jane Doe.

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