Just an hour after the New Year started, a throng of up to 1,500 young men sexually harassed and assaulted women who were outside the busy main train station of Cologne, Germany. Days later and the city is protesting by holding up signs and demanding some action from Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Chancellor has responded to the "disgusting attacks" and has promised that she will do her best to find the ones responsible.
Police have received at least 90 criminal complaints made by women regarding the sexual assault they encountered on Thursday night. On these complaints, at least one woman was said to have been raped while others were groped. This even included a volunteer policewoman as one of the victims. However, most of the reported crimes were robberies. Similar attacks were also made to women in Hamburg and Stuttgart but these were on a smaller scale. None of the attackers have been arrested, especially since the police admit that they do not have any suspects.
Witness accounts and police say that the men who had committed the attack had appearances that were either North African or Arab and were between 18 to 35 years old. While the scale of the attacks has left the country shocked at what had transpired, Mayor Henriette has encouraged the people to not jump at conclusions about the attackers; especially with the ongoing debate against the volume of refugees and migrants who fled from Syria last year.
In response to this, up to 300 women have gathered near the scene of the attacks last Tuesday evening. Many of them carrying placards asking for the Chancellor to shed some light on the attacks as it was very alarming.
The Chancellor, meanwhile, says it is improper to link the attack to the refugees. They will, however, be looking into the perpetrators and will punish them, regardless of background or origin. In the meantime, preventive measures have been secured for the upcoming carnival in February.
