The crime occurred on March 3rd. The young people filmed the process. The video was shared on social media, police said. The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported.

“Then clap”: Girls beat up victims

In one of the videos, which is also available to FOCUS online, you can see the victim and her tormentors standing in front of a house entrance. The editorial team made a conscious decision not to show the videos.

“Kneel!” says a girl off camera to the victim. She complies and then apologizes to the girls “for everything I have done”. The girls, apparently four of them, laugh. “Then clap,” says the girl who is holding a cell phone and filming. An accomplice approaches the victim and gives her a severe slap in the face. “Do you want to?” asks the girl offscreen. “Of course, always,” one of her friends replies and strikes, followed by a third from the group. The victim kneels and does not defend himself. She only asks to be able to stand up again, “because of my pants.”

In another video you can see the four attackers running after the victim. “Do it again, do it again,” one of them says, they laugh. They confront the victim again, one of the girls strikes.

In a third video they surround the victim again. The girl begs: “Please stop.” But her opponents don’t let up, the attacker from video two strikes for the third time. “Was that good,” she asks. “Yes,” the answer. They then lecture their victim about everything she supposedly did wrong. “You never stopped, why should we stop now.”

Investigations into grievous bodily harm

The alleged perpetrators are being investigated for dangerous bodily harm, depiction of violence and coercion. The police did not want to give details to protect young people.

The girl’s father told “Bild”: “This is a terrible humiliation, boundaries of coexistence have been greatly exceeded here! My daughter had to be medically examined in the hospital and I reported it to the police.”

Expert Stahl: “Sad and frightening reality”

The anti-violence and anti-bullying coach Carsten Stahl told FOCUS online: “These acts of violence, like those now being carried out in Leipzig, whether carried out by boys or girls, are not isolated cases, and the filming and publication of this extreme violence and the targeted humiliation of the victims is now a sad and frightening reality.”

Stahl continues: “The willingness to use violence and brutality among children and young people has increased extremely in recent years and is continuing to rise. The young people now know that under the age of 14 they will not be held criminally accountable for it, and over the age of 14 they will only receive ridiculous punishments, such as a few hours of social work or something similar. They laugh at such punishments and even brag about their violent acts and videos on their social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.”

Stahl demands: “If the judiciary, politicians and those responsible in our country do not finally and consistently act and measures such as targeted and effective prevention in schools, but also new laws, such as lowering the criminal liability limit to 12 years, are promoted and passed, the acts of violence among young people will only become more unscrupulous, even more brutal, even more inhumane and even more deadly in a few years.”