German authorities opened an investigation into possible sexual harassment after a robot controlled by two young men touched the buttocks of a 16-year-old girl and made thrusting movements toward her, police said.
Police in the western city of Cologne responded after the incident overnight Saturday to Sunday in which the robot’s suspected 16-year-old owner and a 19-year-old companion were said to have filmed the alleged assault.
Emergency teams that were dispatched to the scene near a fast-food restaurant found the robot in the trunk of a vehicle, Cologne police said in a statement on Monday. The robot and the two young men’s mobile phones were confiscated. Police in the western city of Cologne responded after the incident overnight Saturday to Sunday in which the robot’s suspected 16-year-old owner and a 19-year-old companion were said to have filmed the alleged assault.
They were said to have streamed the incident and commentated on it online. Cologne police spokesman Christoph Bermel said the two male teenagers have not been charged but are considered suspects, and investigators were examining whether the robot’s movements were preprogrammed or controlled in real time. Police were unfamiliar with this type of incident, he said.
