BERLIN: German police acting on an FBI tipoff arrested an alleged online sadist accused of driving a 14-year-old US girl to hang herself, prosecutors said on Friday.

The suspect was linked to an online group called “Nefarious Maniac Kult”, or “NMK”, part of a global network known by the labels “764” or “COM”, the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office said.

The case echoes others in a dark online subculture where predators manipulate, exploit and extort young victims -- a category of crime that has been labelled “nihilistic violent extremism”. The 18-year-old German was arrested in Hamburg on Thursday, accused of being the indirect perpetrator of murder and grievous bodily harm.

Between September and October, the suspect allegedly “exerted influence” via the social network Discord over the girl from Indiana state, whom prosecutors described as “psychologically fragile”.

The suspect allegedly pressured the girl to cut herself and write the letters “NMK” on a wall in her own blood, and had her send him video recordings of these acts. A few days later, she hanged herself in her bedroom, prosecutors said.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2026