Woman Allegedly Raped in Harvard Yard

A woman reported that she was raped in Harvard Yard early Friday morning, University police announced in an email to the Harvard community.

The Harvard University Police Department said that the victim, a woman unaffiliated with Harvard, said she was grabbed and dragged behind Massachusetts Hall after she entered Johnston Gate at around 3:15 a.m. The email described the offender as a very tanned, possibly Hispanic man in his mid-twenties, 5’7” in height with medium build and dark hair, wearing a white shirt.

The assault was the first stranger rape reported on campus in more than 12 years, HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano wrote in an email to The Crimson. He said that an average of four students a year report rape by someone known to the victim to HUPD.

Anyone with information about the alleged rape is asked to contact HUPD's Criminal Investigation Division at 617-495-1796.

—Check TheCrimson.com for updates.

—Staff writer Alexander Koenig can be reached at akoenig@college.harvard.edu.

—Julia K. Dean contributed to the reporting of this article.