“I’m nervous,” says Hamza R. (Name changed) and smiles sheepishly at the camera in front of him. “You don’t have to be, we’ll manage it,” a voice from off-screen reassures the 15-year-old. It is the voice of an investigating judge at the Munich District Court who heard Hamza R. last summer. The conversation was recorded on video and is now one of the key pieces of evidence in a trial that began on Tuesday at the Munich I Regional Court.
In the video recording, Hamza R. describes in a halting voice and with tears how he was raped by the defendant Muhammed O. in May 2022, at the age of 14, in the basement of a house in Hohenbrunn where he lived with his family . “What he (Muhammed O., editor’s note) did is very cruel. He is a bad person,” says Hamza R.
R’s brother was also questioned. In 2022, the now 26-year-old Muhammed O. will also marry Karim R., who is only 16 years old (Name changed) sexually harassed Hamza R. in the basement of that house in Hohenbrunn a few weeks before the alleged rape. Since Hamza and Karim R. were still children or teenagers at the time of the alleged crime, the trial will take place before the 1st Youth Chamber.
At the start of the trial, Muhammed O. only provides information about himself. The 26-year-old trainee says nothing about the allegations in the indictment. Muhammed O. comes from Syria. Because of the war, he left the country with his parents and siblings in 2012 and fled to Turkey. About three years later, he and one of his brothers came to the Federal Republic with the help of smugglers, according to O. His brother Daoud (Name changed) found an apartment in Hohenbrunn. In September 2021, Muhammed O. also moved in and lived in a room in the basement that Daoud had set up for him there. During this time, Muhammed O. met Hamza R., his brother Karim and their father.
The alleged sexual assaults came to light by chance
During his interrogation by an investigating judge, Hamza R. describes how he first watched videos on social media with Muhammed O. in his room in the basement of the house in Hohenbrunn on a day at the beginning of May 2022. When the 26-year-old asked him if he could give him a massage, he was hesitant, says Hamza R. But the then-only 14-year-old was persuaded. Since he allegedly didn’t massage properly, O. showed him and lay on top of him, according to R. Muhammed O. is said to have raped the child.
The alleged serious sexual assaults came to light by chance. Hamza and Karim R’s father had to leave their apartment in Hohenbrunn in May last year after his wife had a no-contact order against him following arguments. It was only on the day his father had to vacate the apartment that Hamza R. confided in him.
The father then drove him to the police. When asked why he was only now telling us about the alleged rape, R. replied, according to a police officer, that he had the impression that his father liked Muhammed O. and his brother Daoud more than him. The process is ongoing.