Tinder date Kiwi retracts gang rape claim

The woman had claimed she met the man at a restaurant in Sydney's Kings Cross, pictured. Photo / NZ Herald

A New Zealand woman has retracted her statement after saying a group of men raped her in Sydney after she met one of them on the Tinder dating app.

The 28-year-old New Zealander, who was in Sydney for business, withdrew her statement late yesterday, NSW police said this afternoon.

She had told police she was drugged and assaulted by a group of men after arranging to meet one on Saturday.

"As a result, the investigation into the alleged sexual assault, which was being led by the Sex Crimes Squad, has now concluded pending any further information being provided," Sydney's SCC Sex Crimes Squad said.

NSW police confirmed the statement to APNZ.

The woman had claimed she had met a man she matched up with on the mobile dating app at a restaurant in Kings Cross before continuing to an inner-city bar, where they were joined by the man's friends.

Police said in initial reports that there was a suspicion that she was drugged at the bar, as she had said she had felt numb, dizzy, and unaware of her surroundings.

She had claimed she was sexually assaulted by at least three men in a property in the Botany area in the city's south.

Detective Inspector Michael Haddow said this week that the woman was "struggling" in the wake of the alleged attack and had returned to New Zealand to be with family and friends. "It's a very emotional time for her. A very difficult incident, the whole matter," he had said.

The woman's allegations resulted in a warning from police that people, especially women, needed to be careful when meeting in person contacts they had been introduced to online.

Although the woman has withdrawn her claims, police repeated that people should take care when using mobile dating apps.

"Police are also continuing to encourage people who use mobile dating apps and internet dating services to exercise an appropriate degree of caution when first meeting someone they have been introduced to online."