Schlossgrabenfest music festival in Darmstadt (Picture: AFP)

Police have arrested three men after 18 women reported becoming victims of sexual assaults at a music festival in Germany, authorities said Tuesday.

The mostly young women said they were encircled and groped by groups of men on Saturday night.

MP Jess Phillips receives more than 600 rape threats after condemning online abuseThe mob attack mirrors the chaotic New Year’s festivities in Cologne.

Police said they were investigating whether the perpetrators also robbed the women in the latest attacks at a four-day open air music festival in the western city of Darmstadt.


Initially three women had filed charges, leading to the arrests of the three men, Pakistani asylum seekers aged 28 to 31, and another 15 women have come forward since.

A high number of woman were allegedly sexually attacked in Cologne (Picture: EPA)

Police said they were searching for another two or three men and said in a statement that ‘the women have reported that they appeared to be men from the South Asia region’.



The Cologne attacks – committed in a crowd of mostly Arabic and North African men – appalled Germany and sharpened public concern about the arrival of over one million mostly asylum seekers last year, most from the Middle East.

In the inflamed debate, far-right groups held protests shouting chants and holding banners with slogans such as ‘sex jihadists’ and ‘rapefugees’.

A flashmob gathered in front of Hauptbahnhof main railway station to protest against the New Year’s Eve sex attacks in Cologne (Picture: Getty)

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