An Australian student has reportedly been raped in Sri Lanka while she was on an educational tour.

According to Sri Lankan police, the girl who has allegedly been raped is from the Australian National University. She came to the country with a group of other students. Now the hunt has started for the man accused of raping the Australian girl over the weekend. Recently, the girl was working at one of the turtle hatcheries situated in Ambalongoda. According to allegations, she was raped on one beach close to the town.

Sri Lankan police believe that the suspect is a local man who is being searched for at the moment. ABC reported that consular assistance is being provided to the Australian victim by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Not many more details are available at the moment since, according to one spokesperson, the Australian girl has asked to keep the details private.

According to ColomboPage, a local news Web site, the woman informed police that she had been raped by one tourist guide on a beach. The Australian National University student was reportedly raped under one solitary rock in the beach itself. She went to Sri Lanka among 15 other students from Australia for educational purpose. Authorities indicated that the girl would have to go through medical examinations. The suspect has apparently run away from the locality.

On the other hand, the university claimed that it had received no official report about any such incident. No staff or student reported anything about it, but it said that it was in touch with DFAT. According to Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Young, the university is under the process of verifying the alleged rape incident. Mr Young said that the university would take it "very seriously" if such an incident did really happen to one of their students. Additionally, he confirmed that the victim would receive support services and counselling at the university's end.