Policemen near the Cologne main train station in Cologne | Patrik Stollarz/AFP via Getty Images Interior ministry wanted to ‘erase rape’ from Cologne police report A senior police officer claims the interior ministry intervened in New Year’s Eve sexual assault report.

The interior ministry in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia ordered the word "rape" to be erased from a police report after the Cologne sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, according to a chief superintendent at the city's police department.

The report in question referred to an alleged sexual attack on a young woman, who told police she had been surrounded by a large group of men, some of whom pushed their fingers inside of her, according to The Local.

The chief superintendent told a committee established to investigate the police's handling of the attacks that an official from the interior ministry contacted the police about the charge. "That isn’t rape. Get rid of it. Delete the report," the police officer claims the official said.

The official then added: "These are the orders from the ministry. I’m simply passing them on."

The chief superintendent said he believed it was a case of misinformation.

"They didn’t understand what is meant by rape," he said.

Hundreds of women alleged they had been sexually assaulted and harassed by groups of men around Cologne’s central train station on New Year's Eve.

In March, police admitted they had incorrectly claimed 140 officers were on duty at the time of the attacks, when in fact only 80 officers were in attendance.

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