Processes
Four defendants are said to have tortured 21-year-olds to death
The defendants and their lawyers are waiting for the trial to begin in Cologne. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
Two men and two women are on trial in Cologne who are said to have tortured a 21-year-old to such an extent that she had to be hospitalized. She died of her injuries weeks later.
Four alleged tormentors of a 21-year-old who died in hospital after being beaten and suffered other tortures have been in custody since Tuesday Cologne in court. The two men and two women between the ages of 28 and 34 must answer to the Cologne district court for common assault resulting in death.
The 21-year-old was discovered seriously injured in the apartment during a police operation at the end of April 2020. She was taken to a hospital where she died weeks later.
According to the prosecution, the young woman and the now 28-year-old defendant initially lived together as a couple in an apartment in Cologne. The other defendants also settled there in spring 2020. The 21-year-old’s separation from her partner is said to have been the beginning of her suffering.
The defendants “harassed the injured party in various ways,” the indictment said. The young woman had to “lick the floor as punishment” and was kicked with steel-toed work boots. She later died in hospital from, among other things, kidney failure, which is said to have been a result of the ordeal she suffered. The defendants said they wanted to remain silent about the allegations.