Yahoo Finance German girl, 12, stabbed to death by classmates ‘for telling adults about bullying’
A 12-year-old girl stabbed to death in Germany was reportedly killed for telling a school teacher she was being bullied.
The victim, known only by her first name Luise due to privacy reasons, was found stabbed to death on Sunday in a forest near the town of Freudenberg in western Germany, in a case that has shocked the country.
Two girls, aged 12 and 13, were taken into custody over the killing and have reportedly pleaded guilty to killing her.
According to German newspaper Bild, Luise was killed in an act of “revenge”, after she confided in adults that the two girls had been bullying her for months.
The children are said to have confessed to stabbing Luise, according to German news outlet Welt.
Because of their ages, they are not subject to criminal law which in Germany only takes effect for minors from the age of 14.
They were therefore not arrested but were instead taken into custody of a youth welfare office.
Luise was reported missing by her parents on Saturday after she failed to return home from visiting a friend.
She was later found dead in a forest near a former railway station following a massive police search.
Prosecutor Mario Mannweiler told reporters that “we must assume that the crime was committed by two children from the (victim’s) circle of acquaintances”.
The two suspects, who are 12 and 13 years old, confessed to the killing, police officer Florian Locker said.
Police said Luise had several stab wounds and died of blood loss.
The governor of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Freudenberg is located, said he was appalled by the killing.
“North Rhine-Westphalia is grieving,” Hendrik Wuest said. “It is incomprehensible and unbearable that children are capable of such horrible acts.”
He promised that the authorities would do everything in their power to shed light on the reasons and circumstances of the crime.
