An Eritrean man is on trial in Germany after allegedly impregnating his 12-year-old daughter while they lived together at a refugee shelter last year.
The disturbing discovery was made in July 2023 after the young girl was taken to hospital with abdominal pains, where she was found to be five months pregnant.
DNA samples were taken from over 50 male residents of the migrant accommodation center to try and find the culprit, but it was when the child’s father refused that suspicions were raised.
According to local media, the pregnancy was terminated ‘at the family’s request’.
Appearing at Giessen regional court in Germany on Wednesday, the 40-year-old man, known only as A. Tesfalem, expressed his regret and said he was ‘sorry from the bottom of my heart’.
But Tesfalem claimed that he had no recollection of the alleged rape, explaining that he had spent the day drinking beer with a friend and was blackout drunk.
‘I drank too much,’ he told the court. ‘From that point on, I was no longer in my right mind. It is indeed true that if someone drinks beyond their means [they do] not know what they are doing.’
The judge, however, noted how the defendant had never mention having been drunk during the investigation.
The girl has reportedly never spoken about what happened to her, but according to news outlet Bild, a psychologist who treated her told the court that they has asked her if she knew how a baby was made, to which she responded no.
The child, who is now 13, was reportedly left severely traumatised and now suffers from dissociative behaviour, German outlet Breitbart reported.
She has been taken into care and is undergoing therapy.
At the time of the alleged crime, Tesfalem – a single father – was living with his daughter at a refugee shelter in Friedberg.
The next court date will take place at some point this month.
The shocking incident comes amid reports that a ten-year-old girl in Majorca was left pregnant after her stepfather allegedly raped her while her mother was at work.
The disturbing revelation was made when the child started suffering from a tummy ache, which prompted her mother to take her to the Son Llatzer hospital in the island’s capital Palma.
Doctors initially discovered several bruises and injuries suggesting that the child had been sexually abused before learning that she was also several weeks pregnant.
Her mother informed hospital staff that the only person that had looked after the girl was her current partner.
Police were called and the 35-year-old Spanish man was arrested.
