An Afghan asylum seeker who confessed to one count of rape and five of sexual harassment in Germany has avoided prison and instead been ordered to attend anti-aggression training after being described as a prime example of how to integrate into the country.
The 23-year-old migrant, known as Mohammad M., molested five separate women between 2019 and 2022, including raping a 16-year-old schoolgirl and demanding oral sex from another under duress.
The migrant arrived in Germany back in 2015 as a teenager from Afghanistan and was welcomed into Western society. He graduated from secondary school and completed an apprenticeship as a plant mechanic before commencing work as a heating engineer in the Bavarian city of Regensburg.
Despite claiming to be under threat of persecution back in Afghanistan, Mohammad M. returned to the country, now controlled by the Taliban, for a vacation in January this year. Upon his return, he was arrested by German authorities at Munich Airport.
He confessed to his crimes and remained in custody until his sentencing hearing.
As a number of the offenses were conducted when the suspect was under the age of 21, his case was heard by the juvenile court at Regensburg district court.
Speaking to the Bild newspaper, his defense attorney Christian Reiser said: “The judge said that he is actually a prime example of getting on well in Germany.”
“In principle, he is fully integrated,” added another defense counsel, Jörg Meyer.
At the hearing, the Regensburg court sentenced Mohammad M. to mandatory anti-aggression training and prohibited him from drinking alcohol, a substance the Afghan national admitted was an aggravating factor in the offenses. He was subsequently released from custody and is now a free man.
“The verdict of the youth court is not unusual, because with adolescents the focus on education is paramount,” Reiser told German media after the hearing.
Bild newspaper reported that the rape victim of Mohammad remains in therapy for the distress it caused her more than four years after the attack.
