Police are investigating the murder of a man who was found beaten to death in Plovdiv. The prosecution said that around ten young people, aged between 14 and 17, have been detained, with charges to be brought against five of them.
A 17-year-old girl had been presenting herself as 15 years old on Facebook, where she made contact with the victim – a 37-year-old man from Krichim. Her group of friends decided to take matters into their own hands against the man they accused of being a paedophile, with the girl arranging a meeting in the early afternoon at Youth Hill in Plovdiv.
After the assault, the group left the scene, while the man was still alive, although in a helpless condition. Found by a passer-by, the 37-year-old man was taken to hospital, where he later died.
“It was not only a beating, but also an act of humiliation against the victim,” the prosecution emphasised.
Anelia Trifonova, supervising prosecutor: “The case was opened only two days ago and it is understandable that we do not yet have the full picture. I assure you that a team of investigators is currently working on it. Numerous searches and seizures were carried out yesterday. Around ten young people aged between 14 and 17 were detained. Proceedings are under way to formally charge five of the individuals – three boys and two girls – those who were most actively involved in the beating.”
Trifonova explained that the murder had been carried out in an exceptionally brutal manner.
Anelia Trifonova, supervising prosecutor: “The charges being brought are that the act was committed in a manner causing particular suffering to the victim, with hooligan and sexual motives. The information is that a meeting was supposed to take place between an older man and a girl who had presented herself as 15 years old. In reality, she is 17. This concerns a group of young people who, in their own view, were attempting to take matters into their own hands against paedophiles. The victim had extremely serious injuries – including ruptures to the lungs, liver and kidneys, as well as a traumatic brain injury. He was found by a witness in a helpless condition. Hours after being admitted to hospital, he died. Literally within a day, the individuals who were at the scene were identified. Some of them were only witnesses who filmed what happened, while others took a very active part in the beating.”
Some of the young people filmed the assault on their mobile phones, and police already have the recordings.
“We have access to these recordings, and examinations are yet to be carried out. We have not identified any adults. The group consists of around ten people, and work is currently under way to establish whether there are further participants.”
The entire crime was recorded, the prosecution said.
Anna Vikova, deputy district prosecutor of Plovdiv: “The three institutions are working in very close coordination to identify every person who has involvement or connection with this act. Our priority is precisely to uncover the objective truth.”
Senior Commissioner Vasil Kostadinov, Plovdiv Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior: “The group consists of children who have common interests and listen to the same music. They are together almost every evening or whenever they are not at school. They are friends with each other. We have no information that this group has committed anything similar in the past, but during the investigation into the current crime, information emerged that two members of this group had been involved in a similar incident elsewhere in the city – at a busy crossroads in Plovdiv, involving another category of people. We have also taken action on that case and an investigation is under way.”
“The contact was initiated by one of the girls in the group, who presented herself on social media as being 15 years old, although she is actually 17. In this way, she communicated with the victim through messages. She told the others that there was such a person; he had not hidden his age – he was 37. After that, the idea emerged among her boyfriend and another member of the group, imitating so-called ‘paedophile hunters’, which you have probably all seen on social media, to arrange a meeting and, instead of detaining the person and notifying the police, to take matters into their own hands.”
He stressed that parental supervision is extremely important.
“These are children from normal families, middle-class families, with a normal social background. Some of them study at very good schools, others not so much. I have now received information that the 17-year-old girl does not attend any school; she is in fact the only one who does not live in the region.”
The prosecution explained that if found guilty, the young people who are over the age of 16 could face between five and 12 years in prison, while for those under 16 the maximum penalty is up to five years’ imprisonment.
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