German authorities have initiated an inquiry into potential sexual misconduct following an incident involving a robot controlled by two young men that allegedly touched a 16-year-old girl’s buttocks and exhibited suggestive behavior towards her, as reported by the police.
The episode, which occurred overnight from Saturday to Sunday, prompted a response from the Cologne police in the western city. The 16-year-old suspected owner of the robot and his 19-year-old companion purportedly recorded the incident and live-streamed it online.
While the two male teenagers have not been formally charged, they are being treated as suspects by investigators. The authorities are exploring whether the robot’s actions were pre-programmed or controlled in real-time.
Christoph Bermel, a spokesperson for the Cologne police, mentioned that this type of occurrence was unfamiliar to them. He stated to The Associated Press that it was a novel situation for their department.
First responders found the robot in the car trunk near a fast-food establishment, and the authorities confiscated the robot and the teenagers’ mobile phones.
A social media post by North Rhine Westphalia Police Cologne displayed an image of the robot lying down. The robot, standing nearly four feet tall, was garbed in a white tank top, black sweatpants, a gold chain, sunglasses, and a fake mustache.
Online videos depicted the two young men guiding the robot towards a group of women on a bustling nighttime street, where it interacted with them inappropriately. Despite one of the men trying to control the robot’s behavior, the situation evoked laughter from bystanders.
The police, through their social media platform, condemned any inappropriate remarks and cautioned against sharing or trivializing such incidents due to their harmful effects on potential victims.
