1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German election 2025SyriaCrisis in the Middle East
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Law and Justice

Bonn rape suspect caught after week-long manhunt

April 8, 2017

Authorities in the western German city of Bonn have arrested a suspect linked to the alleged rape of a woman in front of her boyfriend. The perpetrator is said to have threatened the couple with a branch saw.

https://p.dw.com/p/2aviZ
Siegaue, Bonn
Image: picture alliance/dpa/V. Lannert

Bonn police confirmed on Saturday that a 31-year-old man, resembling a facial composite sketch published by authorities on Monday, had been arrested on suspicion of attacking a young couple from Stuttgart early last Sunday.

"We are optimistic that we have the right people," said police spokesman Robert Scholten.

The suspect was reportedly seen by two dog walkers on the Rhine riverbank early on Saturday morning. When the police approached the man shortly after, he threw away his backpack and tried to run away. He was quickly caught and is due to stand before a committing magistrate on Sunday.

Bonn police said they were 'optimistic' they had the right person
Police had released a facial composite imageImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Stolen saw

The perpetrator allegedly attacked a 23-year-old woman and her 26-year-old boyfriend as they camped in the picturesque Siegaue area on the outskirts of Bonn. 

After entering the couple's tent, he is alleged to have threatened them with a branch saw in "broken English," then to have forced the woman outside and raped her, before fleeing the scene,.

The suspect was earlier described by investigators as a dark-skinned individual in his 20s, around 180 centimeters (5 feet 11 inches) tall.

Following the arrest on Saturday, detectives looked more closely at the backpack, which is believed to have been stolen from people attending a nearby barbecue, just like the branch saw, which was recovered by investigators on Thursday.

ksb/tj (AFP, dpa)