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Children enslaved: IS man arrested in Bavaria

Two girls had to live through hell on earth with a married couple ...(Bild: Tinnakorn - stock.adobe.com)

A man and a woman accused of keeping Yazidi children as slaves in Iraq and Syria have been arrested in Bavaria. They had been holding a five-year-old girl as a slave since the end of 2015 at the latest. A twelve-year-old girl is said to have been added in 2017. 

The man is said to have sexually abused the girls several times, while the woman put make-up on the children and prepared the rooms.

Physical violence for "misconduct"
The girls also had to do housework and childcare "incessantly". Alleged misconduct was responded to with physical violence. For example, the woman had once hit the older girl with a broomstick.

The man scalded the smaller child's hand with hot water and repeatedly forced them both to stand on one leg for half an hour as punishment. The children were not allowed to practise their own religion, instead they had to follow Islamic prayers and rules of faith.

Suspects in custody
H. S. and R. A., both Iraqi citizens, were arrested on Tuesday in Regensburg and the district of Roth, according to the German Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. The investigating judge of the German Federal Supreme Court has ordered pre-trial detention. They are suspected of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership of the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) (2015 to 2017).