A terrified Rotorua teenager hid for more than an hour after escaping from three youths who gagged, bound and blindfolded her with her own clothing.
They bailed up the girl in a Rotorua reserve in daylight, shredding part of her school uniform to tie her up. The three, thought to
be aged between 15 and 17, also lopped off chunks of the struggling girl's hair with scissors or a knife.
"It is very alarming," said Rotorua detective Lehi Hohaia. He revealed details of the case in the hope that someone could help police find the attackers.
Western Heights High School, where the 14-year-old girl was a student, knew nothing of the attack until it was made public yesterday.
Mr Hohaia said the teenager missed her school bus on Wednesday afternoon and walked about 500m to a friend's house to arrange a ride to her home across the city. No one was there, or at the home of a second friend she visited.
On the way back to the first house about 5.30pm, the girl passed three youths she did not know on the corner of Fairview and Gordon Rds.
One asked for a kiss and, when she refused, the youths chased her through a reserve bordering Western Heights Kindergarten.
When they caught up, the youths dragged her about 30m to a children's playground. They used the teenager's long socks to gag and blindfold her, and tied her hands to the side railings of a swing.
Mr Hohaia said the attackers cut off her shell necklace and cut strips from her school uniform skirt for extra bindings.
About 10cm was chopped from the girl's hair.
"There were clumps of hair all over the place," said the detective.
At that point the teenager heard a man whistling to his dog nearby and the youths ran off.
Mr Hohaia said she managed to free herself and ran from the reserve to Kaitao Intermediate School a block away, where she huddled, frozen, behind a concrete wall.
He said the distraught teenager was too embarrassed to seek help from nearby houses.
"She didn't want to be walking around with her dress cut off."
A woman leaving a meeting at the school about 7pm found her curled on the ground and called police.
Peter Kaua, the deputy principal of Western Heights High School, said he had heard "not a skerrick" about the assault.
"Even the kids haven't said anything," he said. "I would normally be the first to know because of the nature of my job."
Mr Hohaia said he was worried about the possible sexual nature of the "nasty" attack. He would like to hear from the man exercising his dog in the reserve about 5.30pm on Wednesday, and from motorists or residents with any information.
The teenage victim said one of her attackers was wearing cargo pants and a black hoodie.
People with information can contact Lehi Hohaia at the Rotorua police station on (07) 349-9423 or 0800 TIPOFF.
A terrified Rotorua teenager hid for more than an hour after escaping from three youths who gagged, bound and blindfolded her with her own clothing.
They bailed up the girl in a Rotorua reserve in daylight, shredding part of her school uniform to tie her up. The three, thought to
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