A St. Cloud State University student was accosted in her dorm late at night by two strangers and one of the men raped her, according to charges.
Charges say woman accosted in Minnesota dorm by 2 students she didn’t know, raped by one of them
Both men charged in the St. Cloud State attack likely have left the state, according to the criminal complaints.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 25, 2025 at 7:44PM
Dipak Phayal, 20, was charged in Stearns County District Court last week with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the attack between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Nov. 1 in a residence hall in the 500 block of 1st Avenue S.
Alleged accomplice Sujan Tamang, 19, was charged with aiding and abetting first- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Both men remain at large as of midday Tuesday, and police believe they have left the state, according to the charges. Nationwide warrants have been issued for their arrests. The complaints listed no address for either man.
University spokesman Zach Dwyer said Tuesday that both men were enrolled at St. Cloud State from late August to mid-December and did not return to the school.
According to the charges:
The student told police that while walking toward her room, two men she didn’t know pushed her into her room, closed the door and got undressed.
One man restrained her while the other kissed and groped her while the woman pleaded for them to stop.
The man who was restraining her got dressed and left the room, while his accomplice raped her. She said she believed the man who left was standing guard. They soon left for good.
Late that morning, the woman continued, she received an Instagram message from user Phayal asking how she was feeling. She said the photo on the account resembled one of her attackers.
Police reviewed dorm lobby surveillance video that showed males matching her descriptions of the attackers. A campus public safety officer watched the video and identified the men by name.
In an initial statement to law enforcement, Phayal recalled seeing the woman stumbling in the hallway and at first denied having sexual contact with her. He then said she came on to him, but he declined.
Tamang watched the surveillance video and said in his account that he saw the woman was intoxicated and that he had opened the door for her to the building.
He said Phayal told him he engaged in “consensual touching” with the student, the charges quoted him as telling law enforcement.
The woman was examined at a hospital, and medical personnel found biological evidence of Phayal’s sexual assaulting her while Tamang restrained her from behind.
The collision occurred about 5 p.m. Monday on Hwy. 23 near Cold Spring, the State Patrol said.
