BERLIN (AP) — In a significant legal case, Germany's federal prosecutors have charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture, and war crimes, alleging they abused two young Yazidi girls as slaves. The duo, referred to as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. due to German privacy laws, were arrested in Bavaria earlier this year.

Authorities claim that the couple was part of the Islamic State group, operating in Iraq and Syria between October 2015 and December 2017. They reportedly began their abuse of a 5-year-old Yazidi girl in late 2015, followed by a 12-year-old girl from October 2017 onward. Prosecutors further allege that the man committed multiple sexual assaults against both children while the woman facilitated these horrific acts by preparing the room and applying makeup on one victim.

The abuse included severe physical violence—such as the man striking the older girl with a broomstick and the woman scalding the younger girl's hand with hot water. Additionally, both girls were coerced into performing household tasks and could not practice their religion freely. Notably, they were subject to punishments like having to stand on one leg for extensive periods.

Before the couple left Syria in November 2017, they reportedly transferred the girls to other IS members. The prosecutor stated, “All of this served the organization’s objective to destroy the Yazidi religion,” emphasizing the brutal nature of their actions. For more details, read the full coverage by AP News and India Times.