A woman told an NGO Tuesday that she did not realize at first that a colleague who she says forced himself on her had actually raped her.

"Was that rape? I think rape only happens on the street …with a stranger threatening and hitting you violently," Xiao Hui (pseudonym) told the Women Awakening Network, a women's rights NGO based in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on Tuesday.

Xiao Hui says she was raped on Monday by her mentor Cheng Xi, a journalist at the Nanfang Daily, a Guangzhou-based newspaper at which she interned last year, it was reported.

The newspaper said on Tuesday that it has conducted an investigation into the case and pledged not to shelter Cheng if he is found guilty.

According to Xiao Hui, she met with Cheng on Monday at the Nanfang Daily office so he could sign her internship certificate. Cheng then asked her to go to a cafe with him, where he confessed his "affection" for her.

Seeing that Hui did not immediately leave, Cheng invited her to go to a restaurant with him. While they were on their way there, Cheng forcefully seized Hui's ID card and used it to book a room in a nearby hotel. Hui told the NGO that she wanted to discuss Cheng's affection at the hotel.

Hui said that when they got to the hotel, Cheng forced himself on her and then gave her 2,000 yuan ($300).

It was only when she discussed the incident with a friend that Hui realized she had been raped. Her friend then convinced her to call the police.

The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau announced on Tuesday that they are investigating the case.