A rejected asylum seeker who pushed a 16-year-old girl to her death under a train has been ordered into psychiatric care in Germany.
The victim, Liana K, had been speaking to her grandfather when she was struck in August last year, according to Geisleden’s mayor Markus Janitzki.
He said: ‘Her grandfather had to listen to everything. He heard screams, then just the sound of a train.’
Muhammed A, 31, from Iraq, will not face a murder trial after prosecutors said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is not criminally responsible.
Instead, a court ruled on Wednesday that he will be detained in a secure psychiatric facility.
Prosecutors said DNA evidence placed him at the scene, with traces found on the teenager’s shoulder, and argued he posed an ongoing danger to the public.
The court accepted that he carried out the killing despite there being no witnesses or video footage of the incident.
The victim, 16-year-old Liana K (pictured), had been speaking to her grandfather seconds before she was struck
Muhammed A, 31, from Iraq , will not face a murder trial after prosecutors said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is not criminally responsible. Pictured: Muhammed A in court today learning his fate
During proceedings, the defendant did not respond to the accusations and instead complained of alleged mistreatment by emergency responders who restrained him on the day of the attack.
Observers noted he showed no visible remorse, even in the presence of the victim’s mother.
His defence team had pushed for acquittal, arguing there was insufficient evidence and that other scenarios could not be ruled out, while also pointing to the psychiatric diagnoses.
The victim’s lawyer, however, demanded a murder conviction.
According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Health, Muhammed had voluntarily admitted himself to the Asklepios Clinic in Göttingen on August 10.
According to local media, he left the clinic the same day despite doctors’ express advice.
The following day, he pushed the Ukrainian teen in front of a freight train which was travelling at 100km/hour.
Liana’s distraught mother had previously told local news outlet Junge Freiheit: ‘She had big goals and plans for her life. Two months ago, she had started her training as a dental assistant.
‘At first, I thought the perpetrator would now receive his punishment. But I’m afraid he’ll avoid it by claiming mental illness.’
She added: ‘After a “recovery” in a psychiatric hospital, he can continue living without remorse and commit new crimes, knowing that next time he’ll just have to pretend to be mentally ill again.’
Muhammed A arrived in Germany in 2022 and applied for asylum, but his claim was rejected later that year and he was due to be deported.
He had been subject to an enforceable expulsion order since March 2025 but remained in Germany at the Friedland asylum centre.
Weeks before the killing, he was held in custody in Hanover and was due to be transferred to Lithuania – the EU country where he first entered – but the request was rejected.
He was then released back into Lower Saxony, where the attack took place three weeks later.
