Afghan man gets prison in Germany for killing ex-girlfriend

Berlin : A court in Germany on Monday sentenced a young Afghan man to eight-and-a-half years in prison for killing his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend in 2017.

Abdul D had stabbed his ex-girlfriend in a drugstore in the western city of Kandel in December 2017.

Judges found Abdul D, allegedly a minor at the time of the fatal stabbing, guilty of murder and bodily harm, Efe reported.

The incident caused a stir across the country, reigniting discussions about determining the age of young asylum seekers who come to the country and claim to be minors.

The trial against Abdul D took place behind closed doors, specifically because the suspect said he was 15 at the time of the assault.

However, according to a medical examination carried out afterward, Abdul D -- who was repentant at the start of his trial in June -- was between 17 and 20 years old at the time of the crime.

The prosecutor had asked for a 10-year sentence -- the maximum sentence available according to the penal code applied to adolescents and young adults aged between 14-20 years old -- while his defence asked for seven-and-a-half years for murder.

The parents of the teenage victim, who had broken up with Abdul D after a relationship that lasted several months, had reported him weeks before the fatal stabbing for threats and insults directed towards their daughter over the phone and on social networks.

The young Afghan was registered as an asylum seeker in Frankfurt in 2016 and received schooling and accommodation in Germany.