Police in Germany are hunting for up to 10 men responsible for sexual assaults at a concert in Darmstadt on Saturday night.
Roughly 80,000 people attended the Schlossgrabenfest over the weekend, but groups of men used the crowds as cover to sexually assault attendees. At least 26 women between the ages 16 to 25 have already contacted police about their attackers.
A spokesman for Darmstadt police said three Pakistani men between the ages of 28 and 31 were briefly taken into custody. Two of the individuals recently arrived in Germany as asylum seekers.
“The women complained that they were surrounded by small groups of men who then touched them inappropriately,” the spokesman said, the Telegraph reported Wednesday.
Police did not have enough evidence to continue holding the three suspects — who are still under investigation — so they were released.
“The women said that it was their impression the perpetrators were South Asian,” the spokesman said.
Saturday’s crimes were reminiscent of a wave of sexual assaults perpetrated across Germany on New Year’s Eve. Police were overwhelmed when refugees from the Middle East and North Africa attacked over 100 women in Cologne. Similar crimes were reported in Bielefeld, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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