Teenage girl admits making up migrant rape claim that outraged Germany

Police in Germany say they have disproved allegations they covered up a 13-year-old girl’s gang-rape by asylum seekers in Berlin. The teenager disappeared on her way to school in the suburb of Marzahn-Hellersdorf on 11 January and re-appeared the following day. A missing person’s appeal was cancelled but the case became the subject of conspiracy theory claims days later when Russian media reported that she had been imprisoned for 30 hours and raped by migrants. Berlin-police.jpg Berlin police said there was no evidence of the girl being kidnapped or forced to have sex Relatives of child, who The Independent is choosing not to name, spoke to anti-immigration rallies to allege three “southern-looking” foreign men who spoke broken German kidnapped and abused her. READ MORE Russia accuses Germany of 'cover up' over 'rape' of 13-year-old girl Hand grenade thrown at refugee shelter in Germany in latest attack Anglea Merkel agrees to tighten German asylum rules But on Friday, prosecutors in Berlin announced that mobile phone tracking data disproved the account. “We were able to access information about a young German man aged 19 - an acquaintance of the 13-year-old girl,” spokesperson Martin Steltner told AFP. “The young girl wanted to hide at his house because she was having problems in school.” Sergei-Lavrov.jpg The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, stepped into the row earlier this week Although no evidence of forced sexual relations were found, prosecutors opened an investigation into possible statutory rape charges because the girl is under the age of consent, which is 14 in Germany. Mr Steltner said that investigators now believe that she had had sex with two men in their 20s, “a Turkish citizen and a German of Turkish origin” who may now be charged.

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