German prosecutors say a group of men who called themselves the “German driving school for experts” were not discussing cars at all. Instead, investigators found that the Telegram groups were used to share details about drugging and sexually assaulting women, exchange advice on carrying out attacks and post photos and videos of unconscious victims. The revelations come amid mass outrage over the prevalence of Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs in the UK.
According to court documents, the accused are members of a Chinese grooming network, and they used coded language in their conversations. Women were referred to as “cars”, sedatives were called “fuel”, and sexual assault was described as “driving”. Prosecutors say some members also referred to victims as “dead pigs”.
Frankfurt Chief Prosecutor Dominik Mies described the crimes as particularly disturbing. “The perpetrators were characterised by a particular ruthlessness, an objectification of the victims, and the perfidious planning of their crimes,” he said.
Several convictions as investigation continues
German investigators have spent months examining years of messages from around two dozen Telegram groups that authorities believe formed part of an online predator network made up mainly of Chinese men targeting mostly Chinese women living in Germany.
So far, three men believed to be part of the group’s inner circle have been convicted of rape and other charges, while a fourth suspect is currently on trial in Berlin. However, officials have not revealed how many women may have been affected or how many suspects could still be involved.
Strict privacy laws in Germany have limited what prosecutors can publicly disclose, while parts of the ongoing trial have been closed to the public.
Chinese community members attend hearings
Although the case has received relatively limited attention in Germany, members of the country’s Chinese community have been attending court hearings to support victims.
“What makes one really angry is to see that such groups hate women; they have no respect,” said Fu Xiao, who travelled hundreds of kilometres to attend proceedings in Berlin. “Women aren’t seen as people.”
The case has drawn comparisons with the trial involving French victim Gisèle Pelicot, whose former husband was convicted of repeatedly drugging and sexually abusing her over several years. “This is not a Chinese or French phenomenon, but one that also exists in Germany and, ultimately, worldwide,” Judge Markus Koppenleitner said during one of the hearings.
International investigations and Telegram’s role
Authorities say similar cases have surfaced in other countries, including the United States and the Netherlands. Last week, Europol announced “Project Medusa”, an international operation targeting online groups linked to drug-facilitated sexual assaults. The operation has already resulted in 57 arrests.
Investigators believe some of the German Telegram groups had tens of thousands of members and may have been active since at least 2020. Telegram said sexual violence content is banned on its platform and that such material is regularly removed. “Sexual violence is explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and such content is routinely removed,” the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, German authorities say the investigation remains ongoing and that more arrests and additional victims could emerge as more evidence is examined.
Organised sexual exploitation of minors by Pakistani grooming gangs in the UK
The German investigation has also drawn comparisons with the long-running debate in the United Kingdom over organised child sexual exploitation networks, including several high-profile cases involving Pakistani grooming gangs in towns such as Rotherham, Rochdale and parts of northern England.
Hundreds of thousands of minor non-Muslim girls were lured, picked up, raped, brutalised, sold, and even killed by Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs or rape gangs for a full forty years or more in the United Kingdom. The British authorities and media covered up the horrifying truth of rape jihad in pursuit of not coming across as ‘racist and Islamophobic’. An independent Rape Gang Inquiry Report has now revealed that the Muslim rape gangs comprised 87% to 95% Pakistani Muslim men, who raped, exploited and groomed over 250,000 non-Muslim, mostly White girls.
In 2015, the Birmingham Mail, West Midlands Police published a Child Sexual Exploitation Problem Profile, which detailed the similarities in the modus operandi of the on-street and online grooming gangs there with those in Rotherham. The 2015 report found that out of the 75 grooming suspects identified, a large proportion are from a Pakistani ethnic background (62%), 12% are White, and 5% are African Caribbean.
