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A 24-year-old Syrian man living in Germany, previously sentenced to five and a half years in juvenile detention for marrying, raping, and violently abusing a 12-year-old girl, has returned to the Essen Regional Court to face new allegations involving a second child marriage.
Prosecutors say the earlier case, for which he was convicted last summer, was not the first such marriage he entered into.
According to the new indictment, as reported by WAZ, the defendant married a 13-year-old girl in December 2019 in a religious ceremony held in an apartment on Frohnhauser Straße. The child’s parents are alleged to have received €2,000 as payment. The prosecution states that after the celebration, a wedding night was expected to take place and that both families waited outside the bedroom door. The girl is described as having been terrified. She allegedly tried to resist the defendant, who then beat her.
Investigators believe that a family meeting was convened shortly afterward, during which the girl was confronted, and that it was decided that the wedding ritual would be repeated the following night, as the girl had resisted its consummation. The prosecution alleges that the first rape occurred then.
Prosecutors say he sent a photograph to a family WhatsApp group after the second wedding night, allegedly showing a bloodstain on a carpet as proof that she had been “deflowered.”
Attempts at further sexual contact were reportedly unsuccessful, and the girl was returned to her parents.
The indictment states that the defendant remarked, “If we can’t sleep with her – what are we supposed to do with her?” or words to similar effect. The defendant later married the 12-year-old girl, the case for which he has already been convicted.
At the opening of the new trial, the defendant did not comment on the charges. Also on trial are his older brother and the brother’s wife, who are accused of financing and facilitating the two marriages.
Further hearings are scheduled to take place in January.
A 24-year-old Syrian man living in Germany, previously sentenced to five and a half years in juvenile detention for marrying, raping, and violently abusing a 12-year-old girl, has returned to the Essen Regional Court to face new allegations involving a second child marriage.
Prosecutors say the earlier case, for which he was convicted last summer, was not the first such marriage he entered into.
According to the new indictment, as reported by WAZ, the defendant married a 13-year-old girl in December 2019 in a religious ceremony held in an apartment on Frohnhauser Straße. The child’s parents are alleged to have received €2,000 as payment. The prosecution states that after the celebration, a wedding night was expected to take place and that both families waited outside the bedroom door. The girl is described as having been terrified. She allegedly tried to resist the defendant, who then beat her.
Investigators believe that a family meeting was convened shortly afterward, during which the girl was confronted, and that it was decided that the wedding ritual would be repeated the following night, as the girl had resisted its consummation. The prosecution alleges that the first rape occurred then.
Prosecutors say he sent a photograph to a family WhatsApp group after the second wedding night, allegedly showing a bloodstain on a carpet as proof that she had been “deflowered.”
Attempts at further sexual contact were reportedly unsuccessful, and the girl was returned to her parents.
The indictment states that the defendant remarked, “If we can’t sleep with her – what are we supposed to do with her?” or words to similar effect. The defendant later married the 12-year-old girl, the case for which he has already been convicted.
At the opening of the new trial, the defendant did not comment on the charges. Also on trial are his older brother and the brother’s wife, who are accused of financing and facilitating the two marriages.
Further hearings are scheduled to take place in January.
