Germans Shaken by Mass Attacks on Women in Cologne at New Year

Reuters, 05/01 16:05 CET

By Madeline Chambers

BERLIN (Reuters) – About 90 women have reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at the New Year’s celebrations outside Cologne’s cathedral by young, mostly drunk, men, police said on Tuesday. One woman said she was raped.

Police and witnesses have said about 1,000 men, split into groups, attacked women in the square. Some witnesses said the men were of North African appearance, stirring strong emotions in Germany where Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed people fleeing war zones in the Middle East and Africa.

While politicians urged people not to place refugees under blanket suspicion, the incident, described by Cologne police as a “new dimension of crime”, fueled calls from right-wing groups to halt admissions of migrants. Germany took in just over a million last year, far more than any other European country. 

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Source: Euronews