Men cheered 'when's my turn' as woman raped at UChicago
What's the story
A 21-year-old woman was allegedly raped at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house in Hyde Park, at the University of Chicago (UChicago), during a party on Sunday. The victim, who is not a UChicago student, attended the frat party with her friends after seeing it advertised on social media. The victim's friend, Mia Lara, said they were dancing when the victim disappeared after she was seen kissing a man.
Investigation underway
Victim was found slumped against a wall
After searching, Lara found a group of men cheering outside a bathroom door, saying "When's it my turn?" and "I want to go in there."
She told NYT that upon forcing her way inside, she found her friend undressed, with her underwear pulled down and slumped against the wall.
Lara said the man, who was also not a student there, had his hands on her friend's wrists as she yelled, "Make it stop" and "Get me out of here."
Fraternity response
Suspect not a member of fraternity
Lara told the publication that she chased the man outside the fraternity house, accusing him of assaulting her friend, to which he allegedly replied, "She wanted to."
The university has identified a "person of interest" in the case who has been banned from campus.
Jonathan Pierce, a spokesperson for Alpha Epsilon Pi's national organization, said in an email to NYT, "We do not believe that any AEPi members were involved in this horrible act, nor were they complicit with it."
Public statement
Fraternity issued statement on Instagram
In an Instagram statement, Alpha Epsilon Pi condemned the violence and said it is "deeply disturbed by the sexual assault that occurred on the night of....October 10th."
The fraternity added that they were notified "through one of our sober monitors being called over by the victim's friend."
They also mentioned that multiple members arrived at the scene to assist and a member stayed with the victim until authorities arrived.
This report comes weeks after the "Cornell 7" gang rape allegations.