A Cologne imam has said the victims of the New Years Eve mob sex attacks had themselves to blame because they wore perfume.

Sami Abu-Yusuf added that he was not surprised the girls were sexually assaulted, groped and raped, because of the way they dressed.

Hundreds of women were attacked by a mob of men in Cologne's city centre on New Years Eve, with the number of alleged sexual assaults now tallying up to 521, including three rapes.

Vile words: Imam Sami Abu-Yusuf said the hundreds of women who were attacked, sexually assaulted and raped in Cologne on New Years Eve had themselves to blame because they wore perfume

'The events of New Year's Eve were the girls own fault, because they were half naked and wearing perfume,' Mr Abu-Yusuf told Russian TV according to Breitbart.

'It is not surprising the men wanted to attack them. [Dressing like that] is like adding fuel to the fire'.

Sami Abu-Yusuf is the Imam of the Al Tawheed mosque in Cologne, preaching Salafism - an ultra-conservative form of Sunni Islam.

The mosque has been investigated by German intelligence in the past, and was raided in 2004 to break up a 'secret network of Arab Mujahideen', according to Breitbart.

This comes as German prosecutors say the number of complaints filed in connection with the New Years Eve attacks in Cologne has now passed 800.

Victim blaming: Abu Yusuf added he was not surprised that the women were sexually assaulted by a mob of men on the steps of the Cologne cathedral (pictured) because western fashion 'is like adding fuel to the fire'

About 521 complaints allege some kind of sexual assault, including three rapes. The overall number of complaints has grown from 766 on Monday to 809 on Tuesday.

Cologne police are investigating 21 people from North African countries in connection with the New Years Eve attacks for robbery, theft and trafficking stolen goods. Eight suspects are currently in detention, with one of them is accused of sexual assault for allegedly groping a woman.

Police logs from the night reveal the full horror the women experienced when they were set upon by the out-of-control mob of men on the steps of the city's historic cathedral.

The notes reveal how women complained they were surrounded by men who tried to put their hands inside their tights and knickers and even insert their fingers in their vaginas.

One woman told police she was surrounded by 20 men of North African appearance before they attacked her, while another said hands were 'all over her breasts and buttocks'.

Thieves rifled through a woman's handbag while others distracted her by shoving their hands underneath her clothes.

In an appalling catalogue of complaints, the women who were attacked by up to 2,000 men during a fireworks display in the square by the cathedral in front of Cologne's train station told how they had mobile phones, bank cards and cash stolen.

One reads: 'Several injured women. All suffered attempts to introduce fingers in vaginas, tights. All were touched on the chest and buttocks. Finger was introduced inside a victim.'

It has since emerged that similar 'mob sex assaults' have been carried out in other German cities and other European countries, including Sweden, Finland and Austria.