IU student charged with rape, sexual battery in Bloomington dorm room attack
An IU student charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his university residence hall Sunday night is scheduled to appear in court for an initial hearing Wednesday afternoon.
Police responded to a 911 call reporting that a student may have taken an overdose of drugs and needed medical help. On arrival, they reported finding the student trying to rape the resident assistant who had called for an ambulance to help him, according to an Indiana University Police Department news release.
The RA told police that after she called 911 about an unconscious man she discovered sitting in a chair slumped over his desk, the man suddenly jumped up and tried to strangle her, and then tried to rape her.
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She had been contacted by someone concerned the man was screaming and might be overdosing. The RA let herself into his room with a master key when he did not answer, a police report said.
Officers arrived to find the two on the floor, where the woman was screaming and struggling to get away, the news release said.
Kalp J. Patel, 20, 445 N. Union St., faces seven charges: rape, sexual battery, criminal confinement, strangulation, resisting law enforcement, battery and illegal possession of alcohol for having liquor in his dorm room. His bond was set at $50,500.
He was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital for treatment. A test showed he had not consumed alcohol. He later told a detective he had taken two Delta 8 gummy bears earlier that night and when he returned to his dorm room he "freaked out." Delta 8 THC is a cannabinoid. Some reports indicate it can have psychoactive effects.
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The police report in the case said Patel described the attack but said he thought it was a dream and not real.
Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com, 812-331-4362 or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU Bloomington student charged with rape in dorm room attack
