Iraqi migrant in Germany suspected of second child rape

Investigators believe a failed Iraqi asylum seeker who was dragged back to Germany after admitting to the murder of a 14-year-old girl also twice raped an 11-year-old child, officials said Tuesday.

Ali Bashar, 21, allegedly raped the German girl in March at the refugee home where he lived in Wiesbaden, western Germany, local prosecutors said.

Bashar and an Afghan boy who also lived in the refugee home are suspected of raping the child again in May.

The second suspect is the same teenager who reported to police in early June the rape and strangling of 14-year-old schoolgirl Susanna Maria Feldman in nearby Mainz, identifying Bashar as the perpetrator and leading officers to the body.

On Sunday, police arrested the Afghan boy while they investigate whether he was involved in the crimes against Susanna and against the 11-year-old girl.

They now believe the Afghan is 14 years old and past the age of criminal responsibility, rather than 13 as he has previously claimed.

Bashar himself remains in a Frankfurt jail after confessing to killing Susanna, although he claims he did not rape her.

Her body was found bearing signs of the violence in early June, two weeks after she disappeared.

Following a public outcry over the death, German federal police hauled Bashar back from Arbil, northern Iraq, where he had fled with his family but was arrested by local Kurdish security forces.

Media reports alleged that one of his brothers, who remain in Iraq, also raped the 11-year-old girl.

Despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between Iraq and Germany, Bashar was put on a Lufthansa flight to Germany, with pictures of him disembarking under heavy police guard making front pages.

Bashar had first arrived in Germany in 2015 along with his parents and five siblings.

He should have been deported after his request for asylum was rejected in December 2016, but he obtained a temporary residence permit pending his appeal.

During this time, he got into trouble with the police on several occasions, including for fights, alleged robbery and possession of an illegal switchblade.

The Susanna case prompted politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel to urge speeding up deportations. (AFP)