The young woman in the dock is a mother herself, her two girls are five and eight years old. But what Wafa A. (29) did to her neighbour’s little daughters is shocking.
On Tuesday, the Meiningen District Court heard the case against the Palestinian woman. The accusation: Wafa A. allegedly sexually abused the then eight-year-old daughter of her Syrian neighbour’s family back in October 2018.
According to the indictment, Wafa A., who lived in Bad Salzungen (Thuringia) at the time, repeatedly had arguments with her neighbours. She then molested the child in revenge.
As an expert witness reported in court, the accused approached the two daughters of the neighbouring family, aged seven and eight at the time, while they were playing outside the house in Dr.-Salvador-Allende-Straße and lured them into her flat. There she undressed and asked the younger of the two girls to perform sexual acts on her. In order to protect her little sister, the older girl then jumped in while the 7-year-old was forced to watch.
She then allegedly threatened the children: If they mentioned it to anyone, she would poison their family. It was not until a year later that the girls confided in their mother.
Wafa A. stood trial for sexual abuse of children at Eisenach district court back in May 2020. She was acquitted there due to contradictory statements from the children. She herself remained silent – and left for England after the trial.
But the Meiningen public prosecutor’s office did not let up, investigated and found Wafa A. She spent 15 months in extradition custody in England. Now, six years after the crime, an appeal hearing was held in Germany after all.
And this time she confessed because she wanted to spare the children from having to testify. ‘Yes, there was an offence,’ said Wafa A. via her defence lawyer Daniel Weithaas.
Judge Manuela Pallasch is certain: ‘It was against the mother, the girls couldn’t do anything about it.’ The disputes between the families are known, but what it was specifically about remains a mystery.
The judgement is now final: one year and two months for sexual assault and sexual abuse of children, suspended on probation.
Prozess in Thüringen: Frau missbraucht Tochter (8) ihrer Nachbarin | Regional | BILD.de