A Belgian journalist has been molested live on TV as she reported on the Cologne Carnival only weeks after the city's horrific spate of rapes on New Year's Eve. Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) journalist Esmeralda Labye was reporting on the first day of the annual celebration on Thursday when revellers disrupted her live cross before one man of European appearance assaulted her, German newspaper Express reports. "My piece to camera was chaotic, people showing middle fingers, a man who was having fun miming a sex act behind me," Labye said. "At first they were just making faces behind me. Then a hand landed on my breast. I was shocked." Police are reviewing the footage. Cologne police recorded 22 complaints of sexual assault on the first day of the city's giant carnival amid heightened security to prevent a repeat of the New Year's Eve crime spree in the city that shocked the world. The number of cases was sharply up from the nine reported on the opening day last year but police put it down to the greater readiness of victims to report crime. The complaints ranged from harassment to one reported rape, police said, adding that on average, around 50 sexual offences are recorded annually during the week-long carnival. Police in the western German city have been struggling to restore public confidence after hundreds of women said they were groped and robbed in a mob of mostly North African and Arab men during New Year festivities. More than 1000 complaints have been filed in relation to those incidents.
