By Julian Routh | News Editor
Duquesne resident student Souleymane Tigana, 23, was arraigned Monday on charges of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault after an alleged incident that occurred in Towers dorm in September.
Tigana, of McKees Rocks, is accused of raping a woman in his room on the eighth floor on Sept. 28.
Police escorted Tigana from his room Monday at 3:30 a.m., his roommate Eric Purnell said.
Tigana returned to retrieve his belongings around 2:30 p.m., and told Purnell “I’m in trouble, man.” Purnell said Tigana told other students on the floor that he would not be returning to campus.
Purnell did not hear about the alleged rape until Monday night when he read an online story by The Duke.
“I was pretty shaken up because I had to go sleep in that room that night,” Purnell said.
Purnell was not in the room at the time of the alleged incident.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim met and exchanged phone numbers with Tigana at the Rowdy Buck in South Side on Sept. 27. The two met at Starbucks on East Carson Street the following evening and went back to Tigana’s dorm.
The victim told police that Tigana performed oral sex on her, asked her to reciprocate the act on him but he raped her instead. The victim told police that she said she did not want to have intercourse with him before the incident and insisted that he stop.
The victim filed a rape report to the Pittsburgh Police on Oct. 18. The police contacted Duquesne the same day, and the University sent an e-mail to students and staff notifying them of the sexual assault.
According to Pittsburgh Municipal Court, Tigana was released on non-monetary bail and is awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 26.
Tigana did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Purnell said that Tigana told him he went back to his home in Mali earlier in the month to tend to his mother, who was in a coma.
Pittsburgh Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said Tigana was arrested when he returned to campus.
There were five reported forcible sex offenses on campus in residential facilities from 2010 to 2012, according to the public safety department’s annual security and fire safety report.
I would love to see the Duke write something about how common rape (especially “date rape”) is on college campuses. It should be common knowledge that one in 4 women will be raped before graduating college. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/06/one-in-four-women-will-be_n_706513.html
But in most of the stories I’ve read about this incident in which Duquesne students are interviewed, they seem shocked that this occurred on their campus.
Kudos to this brave victim for reporting her rape, because not many young women do (understandably, when you see all the blaming and shaming rape victims have to deal with). But just because it usually never makes the news, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Remember: one in four.
And instead of telling young women over and over again how to protect themselves, and never bothering to try to prevent young men from becoming criminals (boys will be boys, right?) can we please start talking to college men about boundaries and consent?