Finnish police investigate 15 suspected sexual offenses on New Year's Eve

Finnish police are investigating 15 suspected sexual offenses which occurred in Helsinki on New Year's Eve, said the Helsinki Police Department on Tuesday.

In a published report, the Helsinki police considered it as an unprecedented incident, saying that the police department has never received so many reports of sexual harassment offenses occurring on a single day.

Among the 15 cases, one is suspected of rape, two are of attempted rape and 12 are of sexual harassment.

According to the police, on New Year's Eve, a group of 10 to 20 men with foreign background sexually harassed women. The majority of the offenses were committed in public places in downtown Helsinki. The victims were 14 to 66 years old women.

Catol Turunen, Detective Chief Inspector from the Helsinki Police Department told the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat that it is not sure if more criminal reports will come.

The pre-trial investigation showed that a part of the suspects are asylum seekers and the rest are men with foreign characteristics.

The police also revealed that there were some 1,000 asylum seekers, most of whom were Iraqis, gathered in Asematunneli, an underground shopping center in downtown Helsinki on New Year's Eve.

The Finnish police did not mention if the incident occurred in Helsinki had any relevance to the New Year's Eve mass sexual assaults in Cologne, Germany. Endit