Man sentenced Women coerced in public restroom at the Alten Zoll

BONN.  · A Bonn court sentenced a 24-year-old man to one year and ten months in prison. He is said to have sexually coerced three women in a public restroom facility at the Alten Zoll.

It was a nightmare which the 53-year-old public employee cannot forget. When she visited the public restroom at the beer garden at Alten Zoll on August 12, a young man pushed her into a toilet cubicle and coerced her sexually. What she did not know was that he had already tried to do the same with two other women but they were able to escape and alert the police. The 24-year-old was caught and will now be behind bars for a year and ten months.

The man had come to Germany from Afghanistan a year ago. Because he would not confess the acts before a magistrate’s court, all of the victims and witnesses were made to testify. A 28-year-old woman was the first. She said the man threw his arms around her from behind, terrifying her. But she was able to free herself and get away. The second to testify was a 27-year-old woman who said he grabbed her and held her waist, and asked her in English if everything was ok. But when she screamed for help, he let her go.

But he did not let go of the 53-year-old woman. He had lurked in the hall, then pushed her into one of the three toilet cubicles and began to kiss and lick her face. He pulled down his pants to expose himself and tried to open her pants, while she shouted “No, no.” He replied that everything would be over in five minutes. Only when another woman came to the restroom and asked what was going on did he leave the cubicle and run away.

In the meantime, the other two women had informed others about what had happened and police had been notified. A short time later, the man was spotted at Münsterplatz in the inner city by a witness who had seen him running away. Police arrived and arrested the 24-year-old.

The 53-year woman remains scarred by the incident and said it completely threw her off track. “I’m not going out in the dark anymore,” she said. In her work, when she has to deal with people coming from an immigration background, she said she gets panicky feelings. She is currently undergoing trauma therapy.

The accused said, “I had not considered the consequences,” and “I respect the rights of women.” But the court did not allow any leniency and punished him with 22 months in prison.

(Orig. text: Rita Klein)

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