A 19-YEAR-OLD female student has been seriously assaulted near the Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT).
The woman, a second-year student, was attacked about 2.30am yesterday by a lone assailant. She was shaken but not injured.
The latest incident is the fourth serious assault to occur at the Bonavalley Bridge on the Old Dublin Road, which was also the scene of three attacks last year.
Gardaí said they are investigating a link with last year’s attacks, but were not yet in a position to confirm whether it was carried out by the same attacker. They are looking for a suspect wearing black clothes.
Last week gardaí visited the campus and advised first-year students not to walk home alone at night. Buses have also been organised to take students from the campus to the town.
AIT student union president Michael Fogarty said: “We had the gardaí in last week to tell the students not to be walking alone and to make sure that they look after each other and keep an eye on each other.”
Last year’s assaults occurred between August and October and caused serious concern among women in Athlone.
RTÉ’s Crimeline programme staged a reconstruction in a bid to catch the culprit who was described as being tall with short black hair and aged between 25 and 30 years with sallow skin.
A €10,000 reward was provided by the Irish Crimestoppers Trust for information connected with the previous assaults. It has not yet been claimed.
