(KNSI) – Stearns County has issued nationwide arrest warrants related to a potential rape on St. Cloud State University’s campus last Halloween.
Officials believe that both suspects, Dipak Phayal and Sujan Tamang, have fled the state after an incident in a residence hall involving a female student. The criminal complaint says the alleged sexual assault occurred on November 1st, 2024, between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. The woman says two men met her in the lobby of the building and pushed her into her room where she was alone with them.
The woman says both got undressed, with Tamang restraining her and Phayal groping and kissing her. The complaint continues alleging Tamang then dressed and stood guard in the hallway. Video cameras show that he appears to have accidentally put on the other’s clothes. While Tamang was out of the room, Phayal is accused of forcing himself onto the woman. A rape exam was able to link DNA left on the woman to Phayal. A separate sample taken from near a bruise on her shoulder connects to Tamang.
Phayal allegedly contacted her through Instagram the next day. Both of the men were then interviewed by law enforcement. The criminal complaint describes their stories as inconsistent. They first said the woman was stumbling in the hallway and they helped her to her room. Phayal emphasized nothing happened, but he later backtracked and said she had tried to initiate sex with him.
Tamang initially told investigators that he knew nothing about Phayal being in the girl’s room. Then he revised that to say they had both consented to touching each other. The explanations for why Phayal and Tamang changed clothes contradicted the surveillance video footage recovered from the dormitory.
Phayal has been charged with first and third degree criminal sexual conduct and conspiring with another person to rape the woman. Tamang is wanted for aiding and abetting the crime through coercion and acting as an accomplice.
Officials say their current location is unknown.
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