German police have confiscated a robot after it allegedly touched the buttocks of a 16-year-old girl and made thrusting movements towards her on a street in Cologne, prompting an investigation into possible sexual harassment and the role of two young male suspects.
Police in the western German city responded to the incident, which occurred overnight from Saturday to Sunday near a fast-food restaurant. The robot’s suspected 16-year-old owner and a 19-year-old companion were reportedly involved in filming the alleged assault, streaming it and providing commentary online, according to police accounts cited by The Associated Press.
Cologne police spokesman Christoph Bermel said neither young man had been charged, although both were considered suspects. Investigators were examining whether the robot’s movements had been programmed in advance or controlled remotely in real time, a distinction that could help establish how the incident occurred and who was responsible for the machine’s actions.
Bermel said police had not previously encountered an incident of this kind. “We have not been aware of this phenomenon so far,” he told The Associated Press, describing the case as “new territory for us”.
Emergency teams sent to the scene found the robot in the boot of a vehicle, according to a police statement issued on Monday. Officers confiscated both the machine and the mobile phones belonging to the two young men as part of the investigation.
North Rhine-Westphalia Police Cologne published an image of the red-and-gold robot on Facebook. The machine was reportedly about 120 centimetres tall and dressed in a white tank top and black sweatpants, with a gold chain, sunglasses and what appeared to be a false moustache.
Videos circulating online show two young men escorting the robot towards a group of women on a busy nighttime street. The machine appears to bump into one woman and hug others. In the footage, one of the men repeatedly shouts at the robot and pulls it backwards after it makes sexual gestures, prompting laughter among people nearby.
The footage has become part of the public record surrounding the incident, although police have not established whether the robot’s movements were autonomous, preprogrammed or directed by a person operating it remotely. The confiscation of the machine and the suspects’ mobile phones gives investigators access to potential evidence relevant to that question.
The case has also prompted a response from police over the circulation and discussion of the footage. In a post on their Facebook account on Tuesday, officers criticised inappropriate comments about the incident and warned that sharing videos or treating such events as a joke could increase the harm experienced by a victim.
Police have not announced charges against either suspect, and the investigation into the alleged sexual harassment and the robot’s operation remains ongoing.
