A graphic video showing girls bullying a classmate has sent new shockwaves across Germany – just days after a 12-year-old was brutally stabbed to death.
The footage shows the unidentified 13-year-old girl being beaten, spat on and a cigarette extinguished before being pushed to the ground and surrounded.
Her ordeal only ends when a passerby intervenes, but of the group only one is criminally responsible, as the rest are under the age of criminal responsibility in Germany, which is 14 years old.
The disturbing incident comes after Luise Frisch, 12, was stabbed to death by two classmates, aged 12 and 13, and they too will elude justice for the same reason.
Both cases have prompted demands for Germany’s 100-year-old law that prevents those under 14 from being tried to change — though ruling politicians and judges have resisted calls.
The footage shows the unidentified 13-year-old girl being beaten, spat on and a cigarette extinguished before being pushed to the ground and surrounded.
Her ordeal only ends when a passerby intervenes, but of the group only one is criminally responsible, as the rest are under the age of criminal responsibility in Germany, which is 14 years old
In the final episode, the girl was attacked by three girls on a footpath in the town of Heide in northern Germany and her ordeal was filmed and posted online.
One of the assailants yells at her victim, “Sit down, I’m not letting you go just like that,” punching and punching the crying girl as she is cheered.
The victim hyperventilates and begs, “Please, stop, I can’t breathe.”
But one yells back, “We’ll beat you until you’re bleeding on the ground.”
The footage ends with the girl sitting on the floor sobbing and the girls fleeing as the police arrive on the scene.
Astrid Heidorn, a spokeswoman for the local police, said: ‘The incident is under investigation. We have seen the footage showing a 13-year-old girl being attacked.
“We are also investigating reports of a robbery, as the girl’s jacket and phone were stolen. The suspects have been identified and the investigation continues.
Two of the main group are under the age of criminal responsibility, but one is over 14.
“We insist that the video is not shared and uploaded. Distribution of the video violates the rights of the person concerned and can be punishable.’
The local prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the MailOnline, saying that “due to the ages involved there will be no criminal case”, adding that it would be “handled by youth workers”.
Speaking to the German daily Bild, the woman’s mother said: “When I saw the video, I broke down. They all enjoyed tormenting my daughter. They are sadists.
“Everyone knows nothing will happen to them because they are so young. I want the perpetrators to be punished harshly, the law needs to be tightened.
“They may be young and nothing will happen to them, they will move on with their lives, but my daughter will never forget what happened to her.”
In the aftermath of Luise’s murder in the town of Freudenberg, an online petition demanding that the law on criminal liability be changed was launched earlier this month, and more than 160,000 have signed it. She was stabbed more than 30 times before her body was pushed over an embankment in a forest not far from her home by the girls
In the aftermath of Luise’s murder in the town of Freudenberg, an online petition demanding that the law on criminal liability be changed was launched earlier this month, and more than 160,000 have signed it.
She was stabbed more than 30 times before her body was pushed by the girls over an embankment in a forest not far from her home.
The elder allegedly encouraged her younger accomplice to stab Luise, otherwise she would “end up next to her,” according to German media reports.
And in another sick twist, one of the girls uploaded to TikTok a video of themselves dancing as police conducted a search for Luise.
MailOnline has been told by the Ministry of Justice and the German Association of Judges that there would be no change to the 100-year-old law, as it would be a ‘knee jerk’.
Stephan Brandner, a member of the right-wing opposition party AFD, told MailOnline: ‘Yes, I think the age of criminal responsibility should be changed, especially in cases where the intent is clear.
“With the murder in Freudenberg, we know that the chief preparer knew exactly what she was doing. It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t negligence and that’s why the law needs to change.
“Many Germans, like me, are shocked by what happened and there must be a reaction from the state for such a brutal and deliberate murder.”
