Aschaffenburg, Germany, Oct 30, (dpa/GNA) – An Afghan man who attacked a group of infants in a German park earlier this year, leaving two people dead, is to be placed in psychiatric care, after the court ruled that he could not be held criminally responsible due to mental health issues.
The incident in the southern city of Aschaffenburg in January, made national headlines during the campaign for February’s parliamentary elections, stirring debate on immigration policies.
The suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan refugee, is said to have deliberately attacked a group of children in a park on January 22 with a kitchen knife, around 30 centimetres long.
A 2-year-old boy of Moroccan origin was fatally injured, while a 41-year-old German passer-by who attempted to help was also killed.
The suspect is also said to have stabbed a 2-year-old girl from Syria, and a 73-year-old German, both of whom survived.
The public prosecutor’s office charged the 28-year-old with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, threats and various offences of bodily harm.
The defendant confessed to the acts thorough his defence attorney, but presiding judge Karsten Krebs at the Aschaffenburg Regional Court said, he could not be held responsible for the attack due to a psychiatric illness.
According to a psychiatric assessment, he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is said to have heard voices during the crime that ordered him to carry out the attack.
The attack was one of a number of deadly incidents attributed to immigrants, in the build-up to February’s election, which saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surge to second place.
GNA