According to current findings, the suspects, aged between 16 and 26, surrounded the girl in a pool on Sunday, harassed her and threw her up. A 16-year-old is said to have reached into her bikini bottoms, the police announced on Monday. The girl managed to free herself and inform the lifeguard, it was said.
Seven patrol cars on site
The lifeguard called the police, who arrived with seven patrol cars and caught the suspects at the exit of the pool. A witness who observed the incident was also identified. Three of the alleged perpetrators are 16 years old, three others are 21 years old. The two other suspects are 22 and 26 years old.
The teenagers and young men live in the Rhineland. Three of them have Turkish citizenship, four have Syrian citizenship, and one is Iraqi. The police are looking for other witnesses who observed the alleged crime.
Investigations still in early stages
According to a police spokesman, it is not yet clear which crimes are accused of which parties. The investigation is still in its early stages. “All of the interrogations are still pending. Of course that takes time.”said the police spokesman.
The suspects were processed for identification purposes – i.e. identified – after the alleged crime. They were then released again. According to the police, the witness also needs to be questioned more closely. The 13-year-old herself was heard in the presence of her parents, said the police spokesman. Victim advocates would also contact her and they wanted to deal with her calmly and carefully.