Bangladeshis among 69 foreign students accused of statutory rape in South Korea

Sixty-nine foreign students at a local university in South Korea have been accused of statutory rape of a teenage girl, according to police on Tuesday.

South Korean police have imposed an overseas travel ban on the 69 students, while conducting further investigation on the case, according to The Korea Times.

Gangwon Provincial Police Agency said it is questioning 69 foreign students and graduates of a university in the province for allegedly engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a middle school student on nearly 100 occasions since last December.

The students were all of foreign nationalities, including those from Nepal and Bangladesh.

According to the police, they lured the victim into having sex through social media by "offering snacks and asking her to hang out at their house". The law enforcement authorities viewed this as statutory rape as the students were aware of the fact that the victim was a minor.

Under South Korean law, adults who engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 16, or the age of consent, may be charged with child sexual abuse or rape, if they were aware of the victim's age at the time of the incident.

The case was revealed during the victim's consultation session with her school teacher earlier in August, who filed the police report.