Incidents on the Zurich-Berne line 62-year-old stands trial for defilement on trains

A 62-year-old man is to stand trial for defilement at Zurich District Court today (Tuesday). He had repeatedly molested young men on the Zurich-Berne train line.

Keystone-SDA

21.01.2025, 06:06

21.01.2025, 06:56

SDA

The man from Sri Lanka is charged with defilement, multiple sexual acts with children, some of which were attempted, and pornography. According to the indictment, the acts took place between August 2020 and March 2024 on the SBB line between Zurich and Bern.

According to the indictment, the accused always proceeded in the same way: He always sat down next to young people traveling alone and placed his jacket over him so that the minors' laps were also covered. He then grabbed the legs and penis from under this cover.

According to the indictment, it took a while for the victims to realize what had happened and push the hand away or slap it away. In one case, the accused also looked at pornography on his cell phone before the assault and held the device so that the 14-year-old next to him had to see the images.

Defenceless from shock and disgust

However, not all young people managed to defend themselves. At the beginning of January 2023, one of his victims virtually froze in shock and disgust. The accused had reached into the boy's underpants. The 62-year-old only stopped the assault when he got off the train in Olten.

The prosecution classifies this act as defilement, i.e. a sexual act against a person unable to resist. Of the offenses charged, this is the one for which the law provides the highest penalty. Prison sentences of up to ten years are possible.

The public prosecutor is demanding a prison sentence of 40 months and an order for inpatient treatment for mental disorders. In addition, the accused is to be deported from the country for six years. His defense will announce the motions at the trial. It remains to be seen when the verdict will be delivered.