German authorities have initiated an inquiry into potential sexual harassment following an incident involving a robot operated by two young men that touched a 16-year-old girl’s buttocks and made suggestive movements towards her, as per police reports. The incident occurred in the western city of Cologne overnight from Saturday to Sunday, with the suspected 16-year-old owner of the robot and his 19-year-old companion allegedly filming the incident.

Although the two male teenagers have not been formally charged, they are considered suspects, and investigators are exploring whether the robot’s actions were pre-programmed or controlled in real-time, as stated by Cologne police spokesman Christoph Bermel. Such an incident was new to the police, with Bermel noting, “We have not been aware of this phenomenon so far,” and adding that it was uncharted territory for them.

Emergency teams responding to the scene near a fast-food restaurant discovered the robot in a vehicle’s trunk, with the robot and the young men’s mobile phones being seized by Cologne police. The North Rhine Westphalia Police Cologne shared an image of the robot on Facebook, describing it as nearly four feet tall, dressed in a white tank top, black sweatpants, a gold chain, sunglasses, and a fake moustache.

Videos circulating online show the two young men guiding the robot towards a group of women on a vibrant nighttime street, where it interacts with them inappropriately, eliciting laughter from onlookers. In response to the incident, the police criticized inappropriate reactions on their Facebook page and warned against sharing or joking about such events due to their potential impact on victims.