A judicial investigation has been opened targeting the singer of the German metal band Rammstein, Till Lindemann, accused by several women of sexual assault after concerts and who denies these allegations, the Berlin prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday June 14. The investigation has been opened “for alleged acts relating to sexual offenses and the distribution of narcotics”the prosecution told Agence France-Presse.
The prosecution states that “several complaints have been filed by third parties – that is, people who are not party to the alleged facts”.
The case began at the end of May with the testimony of a 24-year-old Irish woman, who accuses the singer and lyricist of the group of having drugged and sexually assaulted her after a concert the same month, in Lithuania. This testimony released the words of other young women all describing, more or less, the same scenario. The groupies would have been spotted in the front rows of concerts, filmed or photographed for Lindemann to make his choice, before they were invited backstage for parties. Some would then have been drugged before being abused by the 60-year-old singer.
The facts described are firmly denied by the artist. “These accusations are invariably false”assured his lawyers last week. “We will immediately take legal action for all such allegations”they threaten.
The German government on Tuesday called for measures to protect the female public of Rammstein after these accusations of sexual assault against the singer. “Young people in particular must be better protected against attacks”said family minister, environmentalist Lisa Paus, as Rammstein, one of Europe’s best-known metal bands, is in full tour on the continent.
The organizers of several concerts, in Munich and Berlin in particular, have given up installing just in front of the stage the area in which the singer would have spotted the young women.