A police investigation is underway after a 19-year-old woman was raped in front of a gang of men at a popular music festival.
The victim was staying with friends at Latitude Festival near Southwold, Suffolk, when she left her tent and got lost looking for the toilet on the red area campsite.
She asked a group of three or four men for directions who said they would show her the way and walked with her for some distance.
A number of the group then grabbed her, and she was raped by at least one man, possibly against a tree.
The men then ran off and the victim, from Norwich, Norfolk, who was wearing jeans, a cream and yellow top and a black cardigan, made her way back to her tent.
She reported the incident to her friends, who contacted the site security and police following the attack on the festival site at the Henham Park Estate.
The assault happened at around 10pm on Thursday, just two hours before Tom Jones played to a capacity crowd at the 30,000 ticket event, normally renowned for its ”family atmosphere”.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said the incident was being ”fully investigated” by officers and victim believed her attacker may have had curly hair.
She said: ”Latitude is a big and busy festival and there would have been lots of people around at the time of the incident who may have seen the victim and the men.
”Police officers will continue with their enquiries over the weekend and are working with site organisers to investigate the incident fully.
”We are also reminding individuals to be vigilant and are advising groups of friends to stick together and look out for each other.
”It was very dark at the time of the attack, but the victim believes one of the men may have short dark curly hair.”
Officers from the force took an initial account from the victim, who was then medically examined and are now carrying out a full investigation, including viewing CCTV.
Artists including Florence and the Machine, Corinne Bailey Ray and Noah and the Whale are also set to play at the event, which features a mix of music, art, theatre and poetry.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Suffolk Police on 01473 613500.
