Girl raped on busy street

2003-06-03 11:40

Berlin - A 14-year-old German girl was raped in broad daylight on a busy street by a drunken stranger despite her calls for help to several passers-by, media reported on Tuesday.

The attack on Thursday in the sleepy northern town of Heide, about 350km from Berlin, made national headlines for the audacity of the crime and concerns that Germans, who have been raised on the need for "civic courage", are increasingly turning a blind eye to neighbours in need.

The girl was riding home about 21:30, when the sun was still shining, when 19-year-old Vitali S grabbed her bicycle and dragged her to the ground, according to press reports.

Although she immediately called out to a female passerby, who apparently understood her plea for help, the woman walked on.

Soon after, a group of four people walked by and also ignored her screams although the man had pressed her to the ground in front of a pharmacy and begun to rape her.

The victim told police that at the same time, at least two men watched the attack from a nearby balcony and did not move to help, according to a report in Berlin's daily Tagesspiegel.

Only after she was able to free herself and her father arrived did a witness alert the police.

"All those who observed the attack and did nothing to help now share the guilt in the victim's suffering," Karl-Heinz Frehe of the Weisser Ring (White Ring) victims' rights and crime prevention group told the Tagesspiegel.

Officers then detained the rapist, a German citizen of Russian origin, the mass-market Bild newspaper reported.

Because he had no previous record of sexual attacks, he was released on bail. Police said his level of intoxication could serve as a mitigating factor in the case against him and save him from conviction.

Police in Heide, who could not be reached for comment, had only last year launched an information campaign on the responsibilities of witnesses after a number of unreported crimes.

- AFX