Kiwi Woman Gang-Raped by Tinder Date and His Friends in Sydney
A Kiwi woman has been gang-raped by her Tinder date and his friend when she set out to meet him in Sydney.
The unnamed 28-year-old flew to Sydney for business when she met up with a man through the dating app on Saturday night. She met him alone at a Kings Cross restaurant before they transferred to a bar in Martin Place. His friends then showed up.
Sydney Sex Crimes Squad Detective Inspector Michael Haddow said that the woman began to feel dizzy and numb, and had “lost her bearings.” When she woke up, she found herself at a place she was not familiar with. She was then sexually assaulted by a number of men.
The woman was able to leave the property on Sunday morning. She confided what happened to her work colleagues, who then told the police.
She was treated at a hospital on Monday, and gave a formal statement to the authorities the next day. She described the man she met on Tinder as a Pacific Islander or Maori. She has now returned to New Zealand.
The police said that they are confident they will find the attackers, but cleared that the investigation is “still in its infancy.”
“The vast majority of people who use dating Web sites and apps do so for the right reasons, but there are a number of sexual predators out there who use modern technology to find potential victims,” Haddow issued a public warning.
“We regularly remind people, children and parents in particular, that the use of the Internet by sexual predators is an issue they need to be well aware of. All those warning we give to children are applicable to adults.”
Tinder is a popular matchmaking mobile app that uses a member’s Facebook information to create their profile and find their matches. It’s reported that it has over 10 million active users worldwide.
It can be recalled that it was also the same app used by New Zealand tourist Warriena Wright in meeting Gable Tostee hours before she fell to her death from a apartment balcony in Gold Coast in August. Tostee is accused of killing Wright.
Haddow added that anyone who want to meet their online date in person should bring a friend along.
“Having a friend there ensures that one of you can always keep an eye on your drink, and you have someone to turn to who can help you out should you feel threatened or uncomfortable. If it’s not possible to bring a friend with you, then, at the very least, stay in regular contact with a family member or friend, keeping them abreast of how the night is going and where you may be heading to,” he said.