Deadly knife attack in Berlin: Afghan refugee ambushed his ex and cut her throat

The 31-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries at the scene. The police arrested a man. Homicide is interviewing witnesses.

The crime happened in Berlin-Pankow on Friday morning around 10 a.m. on Mühlenstraße, on the corner of Maximilianstraße, opposite an Italian restaurant. A man stabbed a woman in the stomach with a very large knife and then cut her throat, according to a police spokesman. The victim was still alive shortly after the crime, but succumbed to her injuries at the scene.

The Italian restaurant is only open from midday, so the landlord and his only guest at the counter tend to ask journalists about news and not the other way around. "Terrible," says a hairdresser from Maximilianstraße. A customer walked in and told about all the blood she saw on the street. She doesn't know anything, but suspects the victim and perpetrator were in a relationship.

Victim and perpetrator lived in a refugee shelter

The Berlin police arrested a 42-year-old man around 1 p.m. Witnesses had previously recognized the suspect. According to information from the Berliner Zeitung, the knife attack is said to have been a femicide. The 31-year-old victim is the former partner of the alleged perpetrator. According to the police, both come from Afghanistan, had six children and lived in the accommodation for refugees on Mühlenstrasse. The suspect is in police custody and will be brought before a magistrate on Saturday at the latest because of the strong suspicion.

Security at the shelter brought the man to the scene, says an 18-year-old witness. Other witnesses say that the alleged perpetrator reappeared at the scene and witnesses pointed fingers at him. The police then overpowered the man. "It is not uncommon for perpetrators to return to the scene of the crime and be arrested there," says a police spokesman.

Officials were on site until the afternoon, and the homicide squad continues to investigate and question witnesses. Police are still investigating whether the man was on drugs, had been drinking or had a mental illness. Surrounding streets were cordoned off over a wide area. At 1:50 p.m., the coroner arrived to remove the woman's body.

Source: Berliner Zeitung