German police investigate political motivation for gang rape of Iranian dissident

German police are investigating whether the gang rape of a 30-year-old male Iranian refugee was due to political disagreements over the Iranian regime, German media reported last Monday.

At around 11.30 p.m. on Saturday, September 7, in Iserlohn, about 30 k.m. south of Dortmund, witnesses heard the 30-year-old screaming from a former brewery building. 

The witnesses called the police, who deployed a helicopter in pursuit of the perpetrators, according to Der Spiegel.

Four men aged 24, 34, 42, and 46 were found and arrested in a nearby forest; two other suspects are still at large, according to local daily Ruhr Nachtrichten.

All the suspects are originally from Iran, but some hold additional citizenship, including Dutch and Danish citizenship, according to statements they gave to the police, but refused to comment on their charges.

Six men involved in gang rape

Hagen Public Prosecutor Michael Burggräf announced on September 9 that six men had been involved in tying up and sexually abusing the man and that their primary aim was "sexual humiliation."

The Bild reported that the men had filmed the crime on their cellphones, leading the police to seize their phones. Burggräf confirmed the discovery of the footage last Tuesday, on September 10.

The victim, as well as some of the suspects, have contracted a highly infectious form of scabies, leading to the hearings being conducted in the open air, according to state-owned radio Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Police are concerned that the two suspects who remain on the run have also contracted the disease and may be spreading it.