A 31-year-old Iraqi migrant has been arrested in Germany on allegations that he attempted to rape a young woman, raped another, and tried to kill one of his victims.
Police in the German city of Bochum arrested the asylum seeker after a week-long search. The man is accused of raping two Chinese women in separate incidents in the university district of the city, reports Donau Kurier.
The first victim of the man was a 21-year-old Chinese student at the Ruhr University who is alleged to have been raped on August 6th, and the second victim, also a Chinese student attending the university, aged 27 was attacked on November 16th. Chief Prosecutor for Bochum, Andreas Bachmann, confirmed that the migrant’s saliva matched DNA evidence gathered at the two crime scenes.
The authorities say that the 31-year-old has denied any involvement in the crimes. The migrant, who came to Bochum with his wife and two children in December of 2015, was ultimately caught after a companion of the second victim was able to take a photograph of him with his mobile phone following the migrant’s attempt to sexually assault her.
The photograph allowed the police to identify the migrant after they conducted a search of a nearby asylum camp. Investigators say they are also looking to see if his DNA matches with any other sexual assaults that have also taken place in the area.
Migrant sex assaults have made headlines in Germany for the past year but the case of the rape and murder of student Maria Ladenburger has sparked fresh debate on the migrant policies of the German government. Miss Ladenburger, who was the daughter of a European Union official, was raped and murdered while cycling home from a party and was a frequent visitor to a nearby asylum home where she volunteered, helping migrants.
The case has caused many in Germany to insist that not all migrants should be judged based on the actions of the Afghan national who is suspect of committing the murder. Others, like police union boss Rainer Wendt, have taken a different stance saying that “This and many other victims would not exist if our country would have been prepared for the dangers that are always associated with massive immigration”.
In Portugal, a similar incident to that in Bochum occurred this week in which an Eritrean migrant who arrived in October was arrested after being suspected of raping an elderly homeless woman. Police say the migrant caused nasal fractures to the 67-year-old woman as he brutally assaulted her before a passerby chased him off.
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