TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The parents of a Texas woman who said she was raped while attending the University of Alabama have sued the alleged attacker, school officials and others, claiming the episode led to her suicide last year.
A federal wrongful death lawsuit filed over the weekend by Michael and Cynthia Rondini of Austin, Texas, claims the alleged assault and officials’ subsequent mishandling of the allegations prompted Megan Rondini to kill herself.
The lawsuit says Rondini, then a 20-year-old junior who planned to go to medical school, met a man at a popular Tuscaloosa bar in July 2015. She was later sexually assaulted at his home, possibly after being drugged, the suit contends.
Police investigating the sexual assault were sympathetic toward the man and wrongly focused on Rondini’s actions, which including taking a handgun and $3 for cab fare from his home, the lawsuit claims.
“Megan ultimately was treated as a crime suspect and her status as a victim of a sex crime was completely disregarded,” the suit said. The young woman withdrew from Alabama and returned home to Texas, where her mental condition deteriorated, according to the complaint.