Erfurt, Germany — A man turned himself in to German police on Monday after a woman travelling on a tram was set on fire in broad daylight the day before.
The suspected perpetrator, who told police he was the woman’s husband, poured flammable liquid over her and ignited the fire in front of other passengers.
People on the tram pressed the emergency button, which stopped the vehicle that was travelling through Gera in the state of Thuringia, a police spokeswoman said.
The tram driver rushed to the woman’s aid and extinguished the flames on her body with a fire extinguisher.
Police said the 46-year-old woman’s upper body, arms and neck were on fire and she was critically injured. She was taken to hospital by helicopter.
Pictures of the scene show a charred area near two seats in the tram. The perpetrator fled after the attack, with the police searching for him using police dogs and a helicopter.
On Monday morning, the 46-year-old man turned himself in to the police. He did not resist and was provisionally arrested, said police, who launched an investigation for attempted murder.
Special forces from the State Office of Criminal Investigation searched the man’s flat in Gera.
Both the man and the victim are from Georgia. The family has several children.
Widespread political disgust
On the national level, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said this is not an isolated incident and called for more protection for women and tougher actions against perpetrators.
“The horrific crime in Gera is presumably an attempted femicide,” she said, referring to the crime of killing women because they are women.
“This horrific act is not an isolated case, statistically there is a femicide almost every day in Germany,” she said.
In a statement, Faeser said said electronic ankle bracelets are needed so perpetrators can no longer approach threatened women.
“Protecting women from violence must also be a key issue for the next federal government,” she added.
Gera mayor: ‘Brutal act’
Gera Mayor Kurt Dannenberg, who runs the city of 100,000, expressed his shock on Sunday at the attack.
“Violence against women has many faces,” the conservative politician said. “This incident shows us in a frightening way that such brutal acts can happen anytime and anywhere,” he said, adding that the victim will be scarred for life.
The interior minister in state of Thuringia called the incident “a heinous attempted murder” and a “suspected femicide.”
“We must do more to protect women,” wrote Georg Maier on X.
Data on violence against women
Last November the Federal Criminal Police Office presented its first situation report on “gender-specific offences against women.”
According to the report, 938 girls and women were victims of attempted and completed femicides in 2023, and 360 women and girls died in such attacks.
By Marie-Helen Frech
