A migrant duo convicted of raping an 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a hotel ship in Germany back in March have been sentenced to just three and four years in prison.
Rachid B, a 26-year-old migrant from Tunisia, received four years, and Abdullahi A, a 38-year-old Nigerian national, received three years in prison at their sentencing hearing on Friday after being found guilty of raping the unnamed Ukrainian teen back in March.
The attack occurred on board the “Oscar Wilde” hotel ship, which was being used to house Ukrainian refugees in the city of Düsseldorf in western Germany. According to local media, the two assailants also held Ukrainian nationality and were therefore housed alongside Ukrainian women and children fleeing the Russian invasion.
The two migrants did not reportedly share a common plan, but according to German tabloid Bild, “it was first Rachid B. who threw himself on the young woman in her cabin and raped her.”
Ten minutes later, Abdullahi A. allegedly took her to his cabin and also raped her.
DNA traces were found from the men who told the court during the trial that the sex was consensual.
The story made national headlines earlier this year; outraged politicians and police chiefs called for a tough response to act as a deterrent against vulnerable refugees being taken advantage of.
The head of the federal police union, Heiko Teggatz, told BILD at the time: “The politicians should now do everything so that rape cases as terrible as on the Düsseldorf hotel boat do not accumulate. Severe and swift punishment followed by expulsion is the only language these individuals understand.”
Andrea Lindholz, leader of the Union parliamentary group, called at the time of the offenses for police to “act immediately” and control the facilities housing refugees to “ensure the protection of Ukrainian women.”