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The 38-year-old defendant (2nd from left) with his lawyers
Photo: Martin Höke / dpa
He is said to have met more than 150 women via the online platforms Tinder and Bumble and raped seven of them: A 38-year-old IT project developer has been in front of the regional court in Düsseldorf since Friday.
According to the indictment, he lured the seven women into his apartment in Düsseldorf's old town, then drugged them with knockout drops and raped them.
The defendant was silent about the allegations at the start of the trial.
According to the prosecutor, there is a clearly recognizable pattern behind the crimes: "The defendant always met women between the ages of 20 and 32 in and in front of pubs on Ratinger Strasse and then lured them into the nearby apartment." he is said to have mixed the knockout drops in drinks with vodka and rum for the women, making them so numb and defenseless.
Defense attorney Ulrich Sommer contradicted: The prosecution could not conclude on the constant use of knockout drops just because three or four women felt uncomfortable at the meeting.
"With over 150 other online dates my client had, there were neither complaints from the women nor problems," said Sommer.
The seven alleged victims should now be heard as witnesses in the process.
A young woman started doing it on Friday - in camera.
According to the indictment, the young woman had an appointment with the man in a pub on Ratinger Strasse in Düsseldorf's old town at the end of May 2020.
In his apartment she is said to have lost consciousness after four rum mixed drinks and later woke up in his bed with her abdomen bared.
During her subsequent medical examination in the university clinic, traces of liquid ecstasy, as the knockout drops are also called, were found in her.
Last February, after leaving the 38-year-old's home, a woman was suspected of being anesthetized.
She immediately went to the nearby old town guard.
The man's home was searched that same evening.
Numerous medicines and crushed tablets were seized in the kitchen.
The court has set ten trial days for the case until November.
nek / dpa