Two Syrian nationals, aged 24 and 32, have been charged by the Haskovo District Prosecutor's Office for kidnapping and raping two Moroccan citizens in the Bulgarian village of Harmanli, BNR reported. The charges relate to an incident at the end of 2024, where the suspects, along with unidentified accomplices, abducted a 33-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman. Their goal was to extort money from the victims' family members.

According to the prosecutor's office, one of the accused repeatedly sexually assaulted the woman during the ordeal, threatening her with violence. The victims, a couple, had entered Bulgaria without documents and were staying at the Harmanli Registration and Reception Center, operated by the State Agency for Refugees.

Following their arrest, the two defendants were detained for up to 72 hours, with the prosecutor’s office preparing to request a preventive measure of "detention in custody" from the court.

The case details that the perpetrators learned of the victims’ financial resources and their plans to travel to Serbia. On December 16, 2024, they kidnapped the couple from the reception center and took them to an abandoned house in Bulgarin village. There, the victims were subjected to physical abuse, and the attackers recorded the violence, sending the videos to the victims' relatives in Morocco as part of their extortion.

The kidnappers demanded money in exchange for the release of the victims. The victims' family members transferred various sums via the "Hawala" system. At the time of the crime, the suspects were not residing in the Harmanli center.

The two suspects were tracked down and identified on May 13, 2025, during a specialized operation led by the Directorate General of Bulgarian Police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under the supervision of Haskovo Police.