Story highlights A woman reporting live for Belgian TV was groped

Cologne has been in the spotlight over sexual assault since a mass incident during New Year's celebrations

The reporter said the men involved spoke German

(CNN) The city of Cologne, Germany, fell back into the spotlight of sexual assault this week, when its annual street Carnival kicked off.

A woman reporting from the city center for a Belgian broadcaster was groped live on television, and police are searching for a suspect.

The city has been on high alert for sexual assault after hundreds of women filed criminal complaints of having been groped on New Year's Eve by men described as being of North African or Arabic origin. A handful of the complaints alleged rape.

But Thursday's incident during a celebration called Women's Carnival does not appear to be related. The men taunting Esmeralda Labye in the lead-up to the harassment appear to be of European origin.

"I'd like to emphasize, and this seems important me, that the incident has been caused by young men speaking German," she said.

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