Twelve-year-old Luise from Freudenberg in North Rhine-Westphalia was killed by two girls she knew. Both suspects are under the age of 14 and therefore not under the age of criminal responsibility, the responsible public prosecutor said on Tuesday in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. The news agency DPA, RTL and the "Bild" newspaper had previously reported that the girls were twelve and 13 years old. They are said to have killed Luise with "numerous stab wounds", said senior public prosecutor Mario Mannweiler.
According to Mannweiler, the two suspects were handed over to the youth welfare office. Because of her childish age and the fact that she is not a criminal, no further details can be given about the course of the crime, the motive, behavior before and after the crime, and whereabouts. According to investigators, the two girls confessed to the crime.
In Germany, children up to their 14th birthday are not considered criminally responsible. "Anyone who is not yet fourteen years old when committing the crime is not guilty," it says. The suspects do not have to go to jail. Such cases go to the youth welfare office. According to the Social Security Code, it can, for example, order parental help, individual socio-pedagogical care or accommodation in a home or with a foster family.
Police and public prosecutors announced on Monday that they assume that twelve-year-old Luise fell victim to a violent crime. There is therefore no evidence of a sexual offense (the star reported).
The girl was last seen around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when she was walking in Freudenberg on her way home from a friend. It never got there. On the same evening, a large contingent of emergency services searched for the missing person, the police informed the public at night and asked for help in the search.
Police officers then discovered the girl's body on Sunday morning about five kilometers from her place of residence near a former train station in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated since it was first published.
Sources: "Bild" newspaper, RTL, police headquarters in Konstanz, news agency DPA and AFP
