After the death of a student in St. Leon-Rot, the district court issued an arrest warrant for murder against a student. The two 18-year-olds weren’t supposed to meet.
One day after a student was killed at a high school in St. Leon-Rot (Rhein-Neckar district), the Heidelberg district court issued an arrest warrant for murder against the 18-year-old student on Friday. He is strongly suspected of having attacked and killed his classmate of the same age with a knife. The 18-year-old was taken to a correctional facility.
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Students should not meet each other
The suspect and his classmate should actually no longer meet, according to school spokesman Dirk Metz. The 18-year-old reported the student for assault in November 2023. After that, “agreements were made so that the two would no longer meet,” Metz continued. Ultimately, everyone involved had the impression that things had calmed down. But there is no 100% security.
The spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office could not say anything about whether the crime was a so-called femicide. Femicide means killing women because of their gender. The most common form is the killing of women by their partners or ex-partners.
Why are we talking about femicide?
Femicide is the killing of a woman or girl because of their gender.
If someone in Germany is killed by their (ex) partner or spouse, in over 90 percent of cases the victim is female. In 2021, one woman was killed by her (ex-)partner or spouse every three days. This comes from the police crime statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office out. In mathematical terms, an attempted homicide against a woman by an (ex) partner or husband occurred almost every day. In emergencies, affected women can also turn to this Helpline contact us on 0800 0116 016.
Where does the term come from?
The term femicide is now used by many women’s organizations and activists, but also in science. Journalists are also increasingly talking about femicide in order to avoid euphemistic and misleading terms such as “family drama”, “honor killing” or “domestic violence” and to draw attention to the extent of the violence.
The term goes back to the sociologist and feminist Diane EH Russell. It is intended to make it clear that these are hate crimes. According to Russell, these happen either out of misogyny or because women break out of traditional role models.
In 2011 the Council of Europe… Istanbul Convention decided, which has also been binding in Germany since 2018. It recognizes gender-specific violence as a “structural problem”. Through the convention, the 46 member states of the Council of Europe undertake, among other things, to “prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women”. (Council of Europe and Council of the EU are easy to confuse, but are not the same thing – here the difference is explained.)
Headmaster Dirk Lutschewitz and the deputy mayor of St. Leon-Rot Anneliese Runde spoke to the press on Friday about the crime at the Löwenrot high school. They didn’t say anything about the details because they were still part of the investigation.
Live: Statement on the act of violence in St. Leon-RotAfter the fatal knife attack on an 18-year-old at a high school in St. Leon-Rot (Rhein-Neckar district), the school management and police release a statement.Posted by SWR Aktuell on Friday, January 26, 2024
The alleged perpetrator and victim are said to have had a relationship
According to current knowledge, the victim and the alleged perpetrator were in a temporary relationship in 2023. At the time of the crime, however, the relationship had already ended, according to the public prosecutor.
The police carried out so-called threats a few days after the incident in November and again in mid-December 2023. But there was no court order, according to the public prosecutor.
The police also contacted the youth welfare office and school management. The school is said to have imposed contact restrictions during school operations. The investigation into the specific crime and the background is still ongoing.
Gymnasium in St. Leon-Rot is planning a funeral
According to the school management, the Löwenrot High School is planning a memorial service for the student who was killed. When exactly is still unclear. The processing of the events has begun. The aim is to gradually return to everyday life, said school principal Dirk Lutschewitz on Friday. The plan is to talk about the events in groups next week. The school will then try to restart classes step by step.
People laid flowers and set up candles in front of the school building in St. Leon-Rot.
We have to wait and see how the school community copes with the whole thing.
Suspect was arrested after accident
The suspected 18-year-old student was provisionally arrested on Thursday in Seesen, Lower Saxony, several hours after the crime. There he had an accident in which he was injured. His car had previously crossed into oncoming traffic. The police later found a knife in the car, which is believed to be the murder weapon. The student had previously been searched for by a large number.