Two girls are suspects in the murder of Luise, just 12 years old, in Freudenberg, Germany. Will there be consequences for minors?
Crime
Two girls are suspects in the murder of Luise, just 12 years old, in Freudenberg, Germany. Will there be consequences for minors?
“Astonished – Awestruck – Powerless”: the three words are written on a page of Luise’s condolence book in the Protestant church of Freudenberg and express well what many people in the small town near Siegen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, feel right now .
Since the weekend, the community has been mourning the death of the 12-year-old girl, who was killed in a forest on her way home after visiting a friend. This Tuesday, it was reported that the suspicions of the crime are also minor: two girls aged 12 and 13 confessed to killing Luise with several knife blows. The three preteens knew each other.
Anyone who talks to the residents of central Freudenberg is always faced with a number of questions. Why? Why did Luise have to die? And why did two children commit such a cruel act?
Authorities are very reluctant to answer these questions. Minors, suspected of the crime, must be protected – precisely because they themselves are still children, underlined the prosecutor in Koblenz, Mario Mannweiler.
A makeshift memorial at the site where Luise’s body was found.
Photo: Roberto Pfeil/dpa
The magistrate only says this: “What may be a motive for a crime to children may not be obvious to an adult.” Given the multiple knife blows inflicted on the victim, it seems likely that “there was some sort of emotion involved”, he believes.
Crime will not have criminal consequences
In terms of criminal law, Luise’s death will have no consequences. Children under the age of 14 cannot be found guilty – even in the case of a crime as serious as manslaughter or manslaughter. This is due to the assumption that they still do not have a sufficient understanding of the consequences of their actions.
At the end of the investigation, the Public Ministry passes the case to the juvenile authorities. According to experts, the measures taken there depend on the individual case. It is conceivable that a child would receive psychiatric treatment, possibly be institutionalized accordingly. It is also possible that the parents will receive help with the child’s education – or that the child will be placed in an institution or that the child will live with a foster family for a while. However, there are high legal hurdles to parental separation against the children’s will.
In Germany, children under the age of 14 rarely commit violent crimes, such as grievous bodily harm, sexual abuse, murder or manslaughter. In 2021, the number of children suspected of these crimes increased compared to the previous year (from 7103 to 7477). But compared to 2019, there was a decrease of around 10% in 2021.
Luise didn’t take this way home
The absolute numbers of attempts on life are extremely low: in 2021, there were 19 suspected children nationwide, including four girls. Numbers fluctuate wildly from year to year; over the past 20 years, there have been between four and 21 suspects a year. To put this in perspective, according to the Federal Institute of Statistics, there are currently around 8.5 million children under the age of 14 living in Germany.
The police were again at the scene of the crime this Tuesday. The place where the body was found, and where Luise was presumably killed, is in the forest on the state border of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Freudenberg is just a few kilometers away. Cell phones don’t have a network. The terrain is impassable, only a bike path crosses the valley. In fact, Luise didn’t have to come this far to make her way home. What brought the three girls here? Investigators say nothing about this either.
“We are now putting this case in the hands of the juvenile authorities,” said prosecutor Mannweiler. Psychologists, psychiatrists and also parents are now needed, he said. “The real work is just beginning.”
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