Afghan asylum-seekers arrested over sex attacks at festival

From The Telegraph and the Austrian edition of The Local

Austrian police say they have identified five Afghan asylum-seekers suspected of being part of a group that sexually harassed women at a weekend festival. A police statement says four are juveniles aged 15 and 16 and the fifth is 21.

Monday’s statement says six women reported being groped and otherwise harassed on Saturday while attending a crowded wine festival in the town of Wels, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of Vienna.

Police are looking for two more suspects.

The mayor of Wels has demanded “zero tolerance” in the wake of the alleged incidents.

Eight women have so far made official complaints to the police, saying that they were groped and sexually harassed on Saturday. Die Presse newspaper reports that the youngest suspect, aged 15, was identified by one of the victims and accused of sexually harassing her. The incidents reportedly happened in a packed party tent during the Wels Volksfest. The eight women told the police the men grabbed them and groped them between the legs.