Police in the German city of Jena have arrested a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan following the discovery of the body of an 87-year-old German woman believed to have been murdered.

The body of the German pensioner was discovered on Saturday morning in a cellar in Jena-Winzerla with police believing the woman had been murdered. An arrest warrant was drawn up on Sunday evening with police managing to arrest the 23-year-old Afghan migrant, a neighbour of the woman according to Thüringer Allgemeine.

Police spokesman Patrick Martin commented on the case to German tabloid Bild, saying: “The way in which the woman died is currently being determined in one section. Also, it must be clarified whether and what involvement the suspect had in the homicidal offence.”

The 87-year-old had been missing for two days prior to the discovery of her body as her relatives had previously turned to the police for help in finding her.

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The alleged murder comes after several other cases in Germany in which asylum seekers have both abused and murdered elderly individuals, including a case in January of 2017 in which a 27-year old born in Saudi Arabia killed a 70-year-old woman in the town of Bad Friedrichshall-Untergriesheim.

The asylum seeker, who claimed to be from Pakistan, was believed by the prosecution to have killed the woman because he believed she was an “infidel.” He was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, despite requesting the death penalty.

Later that same year, a Somali asylum seeker was arrested in the town of Neuenhaus after being accused of sexually abusing several seniors and murdering another after breaking into a care home for the elderly.

The 18-year-old Somalian was said to have sexually abused two male residents of the care home and when confronted by the 87-year-old wife of one of the victims, he brutally beat her which led to her death.