Investigation underway

Sister stabbed to death: Circumstances of the crime still unclear

A 13-year-old girl stabbed her seven-year-old sister to death in Leipzig. The circumstances of the crime are now to be investigated.(Bild: APA/dpa/Hendrik Schmidt)

Police and the public prosecutor's office are continuing to investigate the killing of a seven-year-old girl, presumably by her older sister in Leipzig. Although the 13-year-old is not of criminal age, the aim is to clarify the circumstances of the crime, said a spokesperson for the Leipzig public prosecutor's office. 

The girl is physically unharmed and continues to receive psychological care in a specialist clinic, a police spokeswoman said.

Sister alerted police after the crime
The spokeswoman did not give any details about the younger girl's fatal injuries. However, an autopsy of the body had been ordered. The spokeswoman did not say when this would be carried out or when the first results would be available. Both the public prosecutor's office and the police spoke of a particularly tragic case.

Investigators seized the possible murder weapon in the apartment building in Leizpig.(Bild: APA/dpa/Hendrik Schmidt)

The 13-year-old is said to have stabbed her younger sister on Friday evening when their parents were not at home. The older sister is said to have alerted the police herself after the crime.

Seven-year-old died in hospital
When police officers arrived at the apartment building in Leipzig's Kleinzschocher district, they found the seriously injured child. The girl was taken to hospital where, according to the police, she died shortly afterwards. A possible murder weapon with traces has been recovered. So far, the police have not given any details as to which stabbing weapon was involved.

When the parents were informed about the crime on Friday evening, a crisis intervention team was present, said a police spokeswoman. Such teams are supposed to support relatives of crime and accident victims in acute emergencies.

"A tragic case"
"It's a tragic case," said Ricardo Schulz from the Leipzig public prosecutor's office. According to the German Criminal Code, someone who is under the age of 14 when the crime is committed is not guilty - even in the case of serious crimes such as murder or manslaughter. This is because it is assumed that children are not yet sufficiently aware of the consequences of their actions.

In cases involving children under the age of criminal responsibility, the investigating authorities are generally reluctant to provide answers about the background and details. This is done to protect the children. At the end of the investigation, the public prosecutor's office usually passes the case on to the youth welfare authorities. The measures taken there depend on the individual case.

Psychiatric treatment for the child is conceivable, possibly in a closed facility. It is also possible that the parents will receive help with parenting - or that the child will be placed in a home or with a foster family for a while. However, the legal hurdles for separation from the parents against their will are high.

Reduce the age of criminal responsibility?
Recently, there have been repeated discussions about lowering the age of criminal responsibility. This was due to particularly extreme cases in which children were considered perpetrators or suspects.

In April, for example, a 13-year-old boy allegedly killed a man of no fixed abode in Dortmund by stabbing him. Many people also remember a case in North Rhine-Westphalia: two girls, aged 12 and 13 at the time, confessed to stabbing the schoolgirl to death.