COLOGNE: Police in Germany are investigating two males suspected of using a robot to grope a 16-year-old girl and livestreaming the incident, officials announced on Monday.
In their account, the girl was with two friends late on Saturday when the device approached her from behind. They were outside a fast-food restaurant at Palmstrasse and Hohenzollernring in the western city.
Cologne police described the robot as red and gold and about 1.2 metres tall. It allegedly touched the girl’s buttocks and made sexual gestures towards her.
Investigators suspect a 16-year-old boy owned the device. He and a 19-year-old man allegedly filmed the encounter, broadcast it live on social media and provided commentary, police said.
One of the streamers later disputed the account on TikTok. He claimed the robot accidentally collided with the girl after avoiding a man.
Officers responding to the complaint located those involved nearby at Magnusstrasse and Hohenzollernring and found the robot in a car boot, which police suspect its owner had placed there.Authorities seized the device and two phones belonging to the suspects.
A video circulating on TikTok shows a humanoid robot accompanied by two males pressing against a teenage girl. She screams and moves away.
Read: Frankie LaPenna Fights Remote-Controlled T800 Robot at REK
Cologne police spokesman Christoph Bermel told The Associated Press on Tuesday that neither suspect had been charged. Investigators were examining whether the movements were preprogrammed or controlled in real time.
He described the case as “new territory for us”.
In their written statement, Cologne police identified the suspected offence as an insult of a sexual nature.
(With input from AFP and Die Welt)
