Norwegian woman convicted attacker after near-fatal sexual assault in Oslo student housing

Just after 4 a.m. on March 30, 2024, Emma Røsand called emergency services from her Oslo student apartment, her fingers bloody as she whispered, “I’ve just been raped,” while the man she accused lay asleep in the next room. The assault, which lasted hours and left her nearly unconscious, ended with a conviction upheld by Norway’s court of appeal this spring, Dagbladet reports.

Røsand, now 25, had met the man through the dating app Hinge weeks earlier. Their interaction—messages, dates, casual sex—turned violent in the early hours after she let him into her dorm following a birthday party. Surveillance footage confirms he entered at 1:57 a.m. What followed, according to court records, was a prolonged attack: strangulation, repeated strikes to her head, and sexual violence despite her resistance.

“I thought this was it—I was going to die,” Røsand told Dagbladet in an interview published Sunday. She described fighting back until her body gave out, the bed collapsing beneath them as the assault continued on the floor. “He just looked at me, then flipped me over and kept going,” she said. At one point, she grabbed a wine glass and shattered it in desperation.

The attacker, whose identity remains undisclosed under Norwegian law, denied wrongdoing throughout the trial. Oslo District Court convicted him based on Røsand’s testimony, medical evidence, and digital records, including her 911 call. The court of appeal rejected his appeal earlier this year, making the ruling final.

Røsand suffered physical injuries and lasting trauma but chose to speak publicly. “Telling the story helps,” she said, seated in an Oslo park this week. “I want people to know this happens—even when you think you’re safe.”