A group of asylum seekers in Austria have been evicted from student accommodation after one allegedly subjected a 13-year-old schoolgirl to a three-month rape ordeal.
Around 20 migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, all claiming to be minors, were given free accommodation in the grounds of the technical college in the town of Hollabrunn, where a nursery school is also based.
The man arrested for the crime, identified only as Ahmad S. from Afghanistan, said he was 16-years-old. However, police now believe he is in his 20s.
The migrant first contacted and then groomed the young girl on social media. He met with her for the first time in a wooded area, before verbally threatening and then repeatedly raping her, police say.
Conservative local mayor Erwin Bernreiter immediately cancelled the accommodation contract with the college and evicted all of the men when details of the case began to emerge.
“I have to take into account the worries of people and react in the interests of the majority of the population. In the building where the student accommodation is based there is also a kindergarten and a small child nursery”, he told the Local.
He said that it was not an easy decision to make, but one than must be taken in the interests of the parents of those who also shared the building.
“I’m not prepared to wait until there was another incident before doing anything. I believe it is a risk with this group of asylum seekers”, he added.
Local politician Christian Lausch, from the Freedom Party, an emerging right wing force in Austria, said: “Right from the start we warned that something like this could happen.”
The crime only emerged when the schoolgirl from Vienna told her parents of her ordeal, after which police were alerted, IBTimes reports.
The suspect was arrested and is currently in custody. A police spokesman said: “The accused did not use any violence, but he did threaten her and scared her into doing what he wanted.”
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