SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Boy, 11, suspected in girl’s death at German care home

An 11-year-old boy is suspected of involvement in the death of a 10-year-old girl at a children's care home in Germany, police said Friday.

Police at the crime scene
Boy, 11, suspected in girl's death at German care home. Photo: Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

The girl was found dead in her room at a child and youth welfare facility in Wunsiedel, in Germany’s Bavaria region, on Tuesday.

Evidence collected at the crime scene “indicates the involvement of an 11-year-old boy” staying at the same facility, local police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.

“Since the 11-year-old boy is below the age of criminal responsibility, he has been placed in a secure facility as a preventive measure.”

The case comes with Germany still reeling from the killing of 12-year-old Luise, who was found dead in the western town of Freudenberg last month after suffering multiple stab wounds. Two schoolgirls, aged 12 and 13, have confessed to the murder.

READ ALSO: German schoolgirls confess to fatal stabbing of 12-year-old

Police and prosecutors declined to give further details on the Wunsiedel case but said the boy had not yet been questioned. They added that they were coordinating closely with local youth authorities.

Bavaria’s regional interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, praised the investigators for identifying a suspect “in a relatively short amount of time”.

“What’s important now is to clarify the exact circumstances of this tragedy,” he said.

The child and youth welfare centre in the small town of Wunsiedel, home to around 90 children and teenagers, said it was “deeply shocked” by the girl’s death.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the parents, the family, our children and our colleagues,” it said in a statement.

On its website, the institute describes itself as supporting “young people and their families who need help with their upbringing”.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

German Die Linke politician attacked in Thuringia

A politician from Germany's socialist Die Linke party was insulted and attacked in a supermarket in Eisenberg, Thuringia on Friday.

German Die Linke politician attacked in Thuringia

At the supermarket checkout, a man insulted the party’s state election candidate Steffen Much without reason and grabbed him by his T-shirt, the party’s regional association said on Saturday.

Much was unharmed, according to party sources, and filed a police report against the attacker, who he knew.

“I am glad that Steffen Much was not physically harmed,” said the co-chairman of the Left Party’s regional association, Christian Schaft.

“Insults and attacks like these are intended to intimidate everyone who is committed to an open and democratic society.”

There have been several attacks on politicians across the country recently.

READ ALSO: German far-right AfD candidate attacked with knife in Mannheim

The Thuringia state elections take place on 1 September.

SHOW COMMENTS