Father ‘gets his 12-year-old daughter pregnant while living with her in a refugee shelter, forcing her to have an abortion’
An Eritrean man is on trial in Germany after allegedly impregnating his 12-year-old daughter while they lived together in a refugee shelter last year.
The disturbing discovery was made in July 2023 after the young girl was taken to hospital with abdominal pain, where it was revealed she was five months pregnant.
DNA samples were taken from more than fifty male residents of the migrant shelter to find the perpetrator, but when the child’s father refused, suspicions arose.
According to local media, the pregnancy was terminated ‘at the request of the family’.
Appearing before Germany’s Giessen Regional Court on Wednesday, the 40-year-old man, known only as A. Tesfalem, expressed his regret, saying he was “sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
An Eritrean man is on trial in Gissen, Germany, after allegedly impregnating his 12-year-old daughter while they lived together in a refugee shelter. In the photo: Gissen regional court
But Tesfalem claimed he had no memory of the alleged rape, explaining that he had been drinking beer with a friend all day and was drunk.
“I drank too much,” he told the court. ‘From that moment on I was no longer in my right mind. It is indeed true that if a man drinks beyond his means, he does not know what he is doing.’
However, the judge noted that the suspect had never said he was drunk during the investigation.
The girl reportedly never spoke about what happened to her, but according to news channel Bild, a psychologist who treated her told the court that they asked her if she knew how a baby was made, to which she answered no.
The child, now 13, is reportedly severely traumatized and now suffers from dissociative behavior, German newspaper Breitbart reported.
She has been admitted and is undergoing therapy.
At the time of the alleged crime, Tesfalem, a single father, was living with his daughter in a refugee shelter in Friedberg.
The next trial will take place sometime this month.
The shocking incident comes amid reports that a ten-year-old girl in Mallorca became pregnant after her stepfather allegedly raped her while her mother was at work.
The disturbing revelation was made when the child suffered from stomach pains, prompting her mother to take her to Son Llatzer Hospital in the island capital Palma.
Doctors initially discovered several bruises and wounds indicating the child had been sexually abused before learning she was also several weeks pregnant.
Her mother told hospital staff that the only person who had cared for the girl was her current partner.
The police were called and the 35-year-old Spanish man was arrested.