Missing for weeks

Asylum seeker went into hiding before rape

A 17-year-old had been absent from his asylum accommodation for weeks and had traveled by train to Langenzersdorf (Lower Austria), where he allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl. He is still silent in custody.

One week after the rape of a 14-year-old girl, the shock in Langenzersdorf in the district of Korneuburg is still deep. As reported, the girl was allegedly pushed to the ground between parked cars at the train station by a Somali asylum seeker (17) and forced to perform sexual acts.

Busted during a police check
The suspect was arrested two days later after he was stopped on suspicion of cell phone theft in Korneuburg and recognized by a policewoman. The 17-year-old is in custody and continues to deny the crime.

However, more and more details are coming to light. The suspect is said not to have appeared at the refugee accommodation in Korneuburg for weeks and to have traveled to Langenzersdorf by train. There, he may have deliberately chosen the remote parking lot to ambush someone.

Case becomes a political issue
"The rape case shows relentlessly: The young man comes to Austria this year, tramples on the right of hospitality, destroys a child's soul and now has to be maintained by the taxpayer. We don't need something like this in our country," criticizes Asylum State Councillor Christoph Luisser (FPÖ).

In response, ÖVP National Councillor Andreas Minnich described the asylum councillor's criticism of the Minister of the Interior as a "typical blue diversionary maneuver". "Luisser is, as the name suggests, responsible for asylum seekers in Lower Austria as the ASYL state councillor. When something happens, he tries to cover himself with others. Not scolding and collecting money, but working and ensuring order. That is the task of a provincial councillor. In contrast to Mr. Luisser, the police did their job and arrested the aslywerber immediately," said the Korneuburg MP Minnich.