Police in Cologne, Germany, have seized a robot after it groped a 16-year-old girl and made thrusting movements at her during a night out. The incident was streamed online.
Videos posted to social media show two young men steering the machine towards a group of women. The robot was dressed in a white tank top, black bottoms and wore a gold chain and sunglasses with a fake moustache. One person repeatedly shouts at the four-foot robot and pulls it backward after it makes sexual gestures, while people in the lively Cologne street laugh.
Arrests and seizures
Two teenagers – the 16-year-old owner of the robot and a 19-year-old friend – were arrested on suspicion of controlling the robot's movements at the time. Their phones were also seized after the attack, which was said to have been streamed online.
Cologne police spokesman Christoph Bermel said the crime was 'new territory for us'. 'We have not been aware of this phenomenon so far,' he told The Associated Press.
Police response and investigation
Emergency teams dispatched to the scene near a fast-food restaurant found the robot in the trunk of a vehicle, Cologne police said in a statement on Monday. The robot and the two young men's mobile phones were confiscated.
North Rhine Westphalia Police Cologne posted an image on Facebook of the red-and-gold robot lying on the ground. On Tuesday, officers on the police's Facebook account criticised inappropriate comments and warned that sharing or joking about such incidents can worsen the impact on any victim.
