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CRIME

Woman flees with a stranger’s baby 250 km away to Hanover

A woman has been arrested after snatching a baby from her mother in Potsdam and fleeing to Lower Saxony.

Published: 11 August 2017 11:35 CEST
Woman flees with a stranger's baby 250 km away to Hanover
File photo: DPA.

The 19-year-old woman had approached the baby’s 35-year-old mother while she was grocery shopping with her three children on Thursday afternoon, police report.

The younger woman offered to take care of the mother’s four-month-old baby girl, who was in a carriage, while the mother brought her groceries into her flat.

When the mother returned, her baby and the woman had disappeared. The mother then called the police, who launched an extensive search with dogs, helicopters and emergency officers.

Police eventually found that the 19-year-old had fled to Lower Saxony with the baby – around 250 kilometres away from Potsdam.

Several hours later at around 8pm on Thursday, the woman was arrested in Hanover, police reported. The baby was found unharmed.

Due to organizational complications, however, the mother could not be reunited with her baby until Friday morning, a police spokesman said.

Police also reported that the 19-year-old had acted alone and did not make any demands.

Investigators so far do not believe that the woman and mother knew each other previously, and the motive behind the crime thus far remains unclear.

CRIME

Man sentenced to five years for deadly attack at German pride parade

A German court handed a man a five-year juvenile detention sentence Wednesday over the death of a trans man he attacked at a pride march, in a case that caused a national outcry.

Published: 22 March 2023 17:01 CET
Man sentenced to five years for deadly attack at German pride parade

The tribunal in the western city of Münster convicted the defendant, whose name was not released due to his age, of “assault resulting in the death” of the 25-year-old victim identified as Malte C., court spokesman Henning Barton told AFP.

As well as the five-year sentence, the judges ordered “his placement in a drug rehabilitation centre”, Barton said.

The 20-year-old had shouted homophobic insults and threats at several people attending an LGBTQ pride march in Münster in August 2022.

Malte C. had placed himself between the assailant and the group with the aim of protecting them, at which point the attacker became more aggressive.

He punched Malte C. in the face, causing him to fall to the ground and hit the back of his head on the ground. He underwent emergency surgery that night for a traumatic brain injury and was placed in an induced coma.

The 25-year-old died in hospital a few days later.

The case sparked anger across Germany, with LGBTQ groups calling for more decisive action against homophobic and anti-trans violence.

Rights organisations and religious leaders organised a public funeral for Malte C. in October which was attended by several local officials including police chief Alexandra Dorndorf, who posted a photograph on Twitter of herself
at the ceremony holding a rainbow flag in solidarity with the queer community.

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