Afghan Man Attacks German Woman With A Knife In A Berlin Park Because She Was 'Working'

Sep 07, 2021

indiatimes.com

An investigation has been launched in Germany over possible terror links to a knife attack on a German woman in a Berlin park, last week.

The woman, who was working as a landscape gardener in a park in Berlin's Wilmersdorf district was attacked by a 29-year-old Afghan man on Saturday, allegedly because he didn't like the fact that as a woman she was working.

Police said the attacker, allegedly approached the woman and talked to her. Then he suddenly pulled a knife and stabbed the 56-year-old woman several times in the neck. He also attacked a man who tried helping the woman.

Police said the suspect may suffer from a mental illness, but an investigation has also been launched into his possible terror links.

Though the motive of the attack is yet unclear, it has given far-right anti-refugee groups in Europe who have long opposed migration there, to call for an end to welcoming asylum seekers.

They argue that men from countries like Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq who come to European countries as refugees, fleeing wars and conflicts are not trained to look at women as equals.

In the height of the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015-16 there were several cases of such cultural chases, which resulted in a growing anti-refugee sentiment.

The most high-profile of them happened on New Year in the German city of Cologne where hundreds of women who were on their way to the celebrations were sexually assaulted by gangs of recently arrived asylum seekers.