An alleged serial offender is said to have held and raped at least one young woman for several days in Walldürn, Baden-Württemberg, with the help of his brother.
The 37-year-old is suspected of holding the 26-year-old against her will between October 15 and 19 and of having violated her, the Mosbach public prosecutor said.
The victim finally managed to alert an acquaintance who called the police on the emergency call.
According to the investigation, the fate of the woman in the Neckar-Odenwald district could not be an isolated case: "In the meantime, other victims have been identified," said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office.
"According to the current status of the investigations, the police and public prosecutor's office are assuming that there are other potential victims." This suspicion was also confirmed by the search of the alleged crime scene and the investigations.
The 37-year-old man is accused of taking hostages in combination with particularly serious rape and dangerous bodily harm.
He was taken to a psychiatric hospital with a placement arrest warrant, said the spokesman for the public prosecutor's office.
The man's 23-year-old brother is said to have provided help.
He was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting.
sak/dpa