Series of Rapes Near Nuremberg Train Station: Police Detain Syrian Nationals

Police in the German city of Nuremberg have detained several suspects in connection with the rape of a 14-year-old girl. The attack took place on Monday, and by Thursday it emerged that five more men had been arrested over similar incidents near the local train station. According to the public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk, the cases form part of a wider series of assaults that a special investigative unit called "EKO Kayal" has been probing for several months.

According to available reports, the girl was offered an e-cigarette before being coerced into sexual acts and then raped in a park — she subsequently required medical treatment. During the search for suspects, police detained a 16-year-old Syrian national, and on Tuesday afternoon a second suspect, an 18-year-old Syrian, was arrested.

A third person implicated in the case is a 29-year-old stateless man born in Palestine, who is suspected of repeatedly supplying drugs to minors. Notably, back in August he had tried to evade a police patrol by jumping from the city's fortress walls into a moat while fleeing — he suffered multiple fractures and was hospitalized. An arrest warrant against him was issued later, once investigators had gathered sufficient evidence.

Two More Detained Over a Similar Scheme

That same Thursday, the tabloid Bild reported the detention in Nuremberg of two more Syrian nationals, aged 26 and 28. According to police spokesman Michael Petzold, the two men — acting independently of one another — had drugged underage girls and then raped them while they were under the influence of powerful substances.

Dozens of Criminal Cases Linked to the Station

Cases of minors and young women being raped after being drugged have been regularly reported near Nuremberg's main train station for several months. At least 18 arrest warrants have already been issued in connection with these cases, and 12 people are currently in custody, Bild reports.

According to the regional outlet Nordbayern, citing police sources, the suspects are mostly of Syrian, Pakistani and North African origin. Court verdicts in these cases have not yet been handed down.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz