The Harvard and Cambridge Police Departments spent yesterday alerting students and city residents of a stranger-on-stranger rape that occurred last week in the Riverside area, just blocks from Mather House.

More than 100 anxious Cantabrigians and a slew of city and police officials--including Police Commissioner Ronny White, City Councillor Michael A. Sullivan and Harvard Police Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley--gathered last night in King Elementary School's cafeteria to discuss the crime.

And Harvard students who live in the Mather-Dunster area of campus said they have become increasingly concerned about their safety.

One Mather House resident said bluntly yesterday, "It's not safe. Rarely do I see a police car near Mather House."

At last night's meeting, police officials gave neighbors a description of the crime, offered safety tips and fielded a variety of concerns and questions.

Harvard officials did their part today by postering the river houses with a flier asking for information on "an armed home invasion and rape that occurred 9/7/96 at 12:45 A.M."

The Crime

As Cambridge's investigation has progressed, police officials have released a more detailed description of last week's assault.

In an interview yesterday, Cambridge Sergeant Joseph J. McSweeney, head of sex crime investigations, said the perpetrator entered the victim's first-floor apartment through an open crank window in the back of her home.

After stealing some jewelry and a Camcorder, the intruder entered the woman's bedroom where she was asleep with her child, forced her at knifepoint into another room and raped her, the officer said. The alleged rapist then bound and gagged the woman and fled through the same window.

At last night's meeting, police officials suggested that the original address they released--Bay and Green Streets--was inaccurate, but would now say only that the attack occurred in the area bound by Putnam, Kinnaird, Hancock and Green Streets.

The police have also partially modified their original description of the offender, who is still at large. He is said to be a medium-skinned black male, 25-35 years of age, 5'5" tall, of medium build and with dark hair. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a blue T-shirt, blue jeans and black leather gloves.

Alarmed

Both Harvard and Cambridge officials insisted that this is an isolated incident and is no cause for serious alarm.

But according to recent published reports by the Cambridge Police Department, incidents of rape in city are up dramatically since the beginning of the year.