German police have launched an investigation into two people suspected of controlling a robot that allegedly groped a 16-year-old girl in the city of Cologne, Germany.
Police in North Rhine-Westphalia seized the red-and-gold robot after it allegedly grabbed the girl’s buttocks and made thrusting movements against her, prompting her to scream and move away.
According to a police statement posted on Facebook, the 120-centimetre-tall device approached the girl from behind close to midnight on Saturday, while she was with friends outside a fast-food outlet near the city centre.
Police believe that the robot’s 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old companion streamed the incident live on social media and posted comments about it.
Emergency services were alerted following the incident. Officers later located the teenager and the older man about a block away, while the robot was found in the back of a car where the boy had placed it, police said.
A photograph released by police showed the robot wearing a black moustache, a gold-coloured chain and a white vest.
Police also seized two mobile phones belonging to the suspects as investigators work to establish whether the robot was deliberately controlled to carry out the alleged actions.
In a follow-up Facebook post, police warned social media users against posting inappropriate comments about the case, saying some remarks “can be a crossing of the line and in the worst case, a criminal offense”.
