German police have seized a humanoid robot that allegedly groped a 16-year-old girl on the streets of Cologne, and are investigating its owner for sexual harassment.
Officers seized the robot in the early hours of Sunday morning after it “allegedly touched a 16-year-old girl’s buttocks and made thrusting motions against her,” according to a statement from Cologne Police.
The teenage girl was standing outside a fast food restaurant with her friends when the robot approached her from behind and made obscene motions, the statement continued. Shortly afterwards, officers found the robot in the trunk of a nearby car and confiscated it, along with the mobile phones of its 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old accomplice.
The red and gold robot, modeled on Marvel’s ‘Iron Man’, was seen in an evidence photo clad in a white vest, a gold chain, and a stick-on mustache.
#PolizeiNRW #Köln #Leverkusen : Mutmaßlich ferngesteuerter Roboter fasst 16-Jähriger ans Gesäß - Polizei beschlagnahmt ungewöhnliches Beweismittel - Infos unter: https://t.co/XlwfQf5dpm https://t.co/3nEL5OTw74
Police are now “examining how the robot was functioning at the time of the incident and whether someone was deliberately controlling its movements.” The two teenagers operating the droid – who live-streamed the incident online – are being investigated on suspicion of sexual harassment.
Video footage shared on TikTok showed the sex-pest robot, named ‘Ahmed’ by his owner and accomplice, harassing multiple women. The droid made masturbatory hand gestures and thrusting motions at several women as his alleged operators laughed, and approached one woman from behind, causing her to scream. It is unclear if this is the incident that triggered the investigation.
According to Germany’s criminal code, sexual assault requires contact between perpetrator and victim. Acts “carried out by machines or by third parties” do not rise to the level of assault, The German Federal Court of Justice ruled in 2021. If found guilty of sexual harassment, however, the suspects could face a fine or up to two years in prison.
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