BERLIN (Reuters) -German prosecutors have charged a 43-year-old Chinese national with 22 offences, including attempted murder and aggravated rape after drugging victims, in some cases involving women he knew, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The accused, who was not identified, is suspected of sedating women with sleeping pills and raping them in eight cases. Some victims knew the defendant and were unaware of what was happening, prosecutors in Frankfurt said.
In four cases, the man is suspected of overpowering, anaesthetising and raping the victims during property viewings and of videoing or photographing the acts. In seven cases, the drug dose was so high it may have endangered victims’ lives, prosecutors said in a statement.
The accused is alleged to have been a member of the Telegram online platform for several years, where he exchanged information about how to sexually assault unconscious women. He is also believed to have illegally sold sedatives to other chat participants, prosecutors said.
The man from Offenbach, near Frankfurt, is believed to have committed the offences between January 2020 and November 2024, and has been in custody since November, prosecutors said.
The charges follow the high-profile case of Dominique Pelicot in France, convicted in December of repeatedly drugging and raping his wife for almost a decade and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her unconscious body.
(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; editing by Matthias Williams and Bernadette Baum)
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