The 13-year-old is not of criminal responsibility, but the aim is to clarify the circumstances of the crime, said a spokesman for the Leipzig public prosecutor’s office. The girl was not physically injured and was receiving further psychological care in a specialist clinic, said a police spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman did not provide any information about the younger girl’s fatal injuries. However, an autopsy of the body was ordered. The spokeswoman did not say when this will be carried out or when the first results will be available. Both the public prosecutor and the police spoke of a particularly tragic case.
Accordingly, the 13-year-old is said to have stabbed her younger sister on Friday evening when her parents were not in the house. The older woman is said to have alerted the police herself after the crime. When police officers came to the apartment building in the Kleinzschocher district of Leipzig, they found the seriously injured child. The girl was taken to a hospital where she died a short time later, according to police. A possible murder weapon with traces was seized. So far, the police have not provided any information about which stabbing weapon was used.
Under 14 years of age incapable of guilt
When the parents were informed about the crime on Friday evening, a crisis intervention team was there, said a police spokeswoman. Such teams are intended to support relatives of crime and accident victims in acute emergencies.
According to the German Criminal Code, anyone who is under 14 years old when the crime is committed is incompetent. Recently there has been repeated discussion about lowering the age of criminal responsibility. The background was also particularly extreme cases in which children were considered perpetrators or suspects.
In April, for example, a 13-year-old boy is said to have stabbed a man with no permanent address in Dortmund. Many people also remembered a case in North Rhine-Westphalia: two girls, aged twelve and 13 at the time, confessed to having stabbed the student to death.
Even if they are not of criminal responsibility, the youth welfare office can take various measures for children younger than 14. This is intended to prevent children from committing crimes again.
