Following the now publicised rape of a young woman (aged 16) in Vienna, further details have emerged about the migrant suspected of the crime: the Syrian man (aged 21) had already been convicted of a sexual offence months ago; he should currently have been in prison for a previous rape conviction.
The migrant arrived in Austria in September 2018 and was granted asylum the following month. He had already been reported to the police a year ago for rape. In October 2025, the police arrested him for another sexual assault on a woman. Two weeks later, however, he was released from pre-trial detention. In December 2025, a court convicted him of the offence; the verdict only became final some six months later, in June 2026.
However, instead of serving the prison sentence imposed on him, the man is alleged to have committed another serious sexual offence during this period: according to the Vienna police, a 16-year-old girl from Vienna wanted to take a taxi home on the night of July 6. However, as her mobile phone battery had run out, she was unable to make a call. A dark-coloured BMW pulled up beside the girl, and the driver offered to take her home. However, whilst en route to her home address, the Syrian man is alleged to have suddenly changed course and raped the teenager in the car. He then drove her home.
By analysing CCTV footage, investigators were able to identify both the dark-coloured BMW and the alleged perpetrator beyond any doubt. The Syrian man was arrested on the same day following consultation with the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office and is now in pre-trial detention at a correctional facility.
No explanation has yet been provided as to why the convicted man was not imprisoned immediately after the existing judgement became final: a swifter enforcement of the sentence would have prevented this latest offence. It is not currently known whether bureaucratic hurdles, staff shortages within the police or the judiciary, or specific legal circumstances are responsible for the delay. The judicial authorities have not yet issued a detailed statement.
Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) forcibly deported only three Syrians directly to their home country last year; no figures are yet available for this year regarding direct forced deportations to Syria. There are currently 104,000 Syrian migrants living in Austria; most of these migrants no longer have grounds for asylum – yet they are still not being removed from the country.