A Syrian immigrant has appeared in court after being arrested over the stabbing of a four-year-old girl in a German supermarket.
The man, 34, who has Dutch citizenship, allegedly plunged a kitchen knife twice into the girl’s stomach at the Norma store in the southern city of Wangen im Allgau on Wednesday afternoon.
A bystander intervened and called the police and the little girl, who was with her mother and unknown to the suspect, was rushed to hospital where she is recovering,
The Syrian appeared before a judge in Ravensburg shirtless and barefoot the next day charged with attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, and was then taken to a psychiatric clinic, Bild reported.
Prosecutor Tanya Vobiller said: “We assume the man has reduced culpability or capacity”.
Beatrix von Storch, Deputy Leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, condemned the alleged attack.
“Even in formerly tranquil regions, internal security is collapsing and no one is safe anymore,” she said.