Iraqi migrant suspected of murdering Ukrainian teen in Germany

A 31-year-old man diagnosed with schizophrenia allegedly pushed his 16-year-old victim under an oncoming train, the authorities have said

An Iraqi migrant in Germany is suspected of murdering a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl, identified as Liana K., by pushing her under an oncoming train, the local public prosecutor’s office has reported.

According to a statement released last Friday, the incident took place on August 11 at a train station in Friedland municipality, Lower Saxony. The authorities said police had been called over a report of a man “causing a disturbance.”

When the officers arrived, the 31-year-old suspect, reportedly named Muhammad A., is said to have approached them voluntarily and pointed to the victim’s lifeless body, while not admitting to any involvement. Police initially did not detain the man, the prosecutor’s office said. However, hours later he was arrested for displaying “aggressive behavior” at a different location, and taken to a psychiatric hospital.

Subsequent tests discovered the man’s DNA on the victim’s body, resulting in a detention order being issued for the suspect, the statement read.

The authorities explained that it was not clear whether the Iraqi national, if found guilty, would face a prison sentence or be confined to a mental facility, as he had previously been “diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.”

According to the statement, the suspect’s asylum application was rejected as inadmissible in December 2022 and he was ordered deported to Lithuania, from where he had apparently come. After the man’s appeal was struck down, he is said to have gone into hiding.

In July 2025, after the fugitive had been located, the German immigration authorities applied for his deportation, only for the Hanover District Court to reject the motion, citing insufficient grounds.

Local media has reported that Liana K’s family arrived in Germany in July 2022.

Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, an estimated 1.2 million Ukrainians have come to Germany. It follows a mass influx of asylum seekers from nations such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, starting in 2015.

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