Psychiatrist explains

5 women murdered: “A reflection of society”

In Vienna, five women were brutally murdered and massacred within one day. The prime suspects: Men. Renowned forensic psychiatrist Sigrun Roßmanith talks to the "Krone" newspaper about the possible background to such shocking acts.

At around 7 a.m. on Friday, police officers enter an apartment in Vienna-Erdberg and find two lifeless bodies. It is a 51-year-old woman with her 13-year-old daughter. The investigators quickly realize that they are dealing with a violent crime. The 53-year-old husband and father is quickly targeted by the investigators, but he has gone into hiding.

Mother and daughter were murdered in this house.(Bild: klemens groh)

The police operation in Vienna-Brigittenau is in full swing because of the triple murder.(Bild: Klemens Groh)

The three women were killed in this Asia studio.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Peter Tomschi)

The police are called to Vienna-Brigittenau in the evening. What they find there is hard to watch, even for hardened investigators: Three women massacred in an erotic studio. The officers must have found a veritable bloodbath. The prime suspect, an Afghan asylum seeker. The 27-year-old, covered in blood, is arrested at the scene of the crime. The motive is not yet known.

Knife as an extension of self-esteem
"This is a reflection of society as it is", says the experienced forensic psychiatrist Sigrun Roßmanith to the "Krone" the next day. The fact that five women are murdered in just one day is not the rule, but in general the propensity for violence and agitation has "naturally increased".

We no longer have any rules or structures, our democracy is reaching its limits.

Sigrun Roßmanith, Gerichtspsychiaterin

Prostitutes in particular are highly vulnerable victims, as Roßmanith goes on to explain. If women are massacred in such establishments, a man usually snaps, "because he is supposed to pay but can't, is humiliated or insulted, where the mind no longer works, but the knife counts as an extension of self-esteem." In technical jargon, this is also referred to as overkill.

What is overkill?

Overkill is a term used in criminalistics when the perpetrator of a homicide uses significantly more violence against the victim than would have been necessary for the actual killing.

Violence as a reflection of apparent male strength
The increased willingness to use violence is partly due to immigration. Acts such as those mentioned above encourage further acts or the "use of violence as a reflection of apparent male strength". Women are becoming more and more independent and those who are still used to the subordination and oppression of women in their countries of origin perceive a different climate in Austria and are willing to be influenced by it, according to the forensic psychiatrist. If a woman suddenly wants to separate against this background, the bomb bursts and such devastating acts can occur.

You get the impression that we have a bit of a fatherless society."

Sigrun Roßmanith, Gerichtspsychiaterin

Statistics also show that a separation is always worse for men than for women. And: "Men are more likely to respond with physical violence than women." Of course, this can also be observed among Austrian men, as can be seen from the double murder, but it is not as pronounced. "We have a different structure here in Austria, of course there are still patriarchal aspects, but in some areas this is already changing," says Roßmanith.

The forensic psychiatrist points out that many people get the impression that Austria lacks a guiding hand from above. "We no longer have any rules or structures, our democracy is reaching its limits," she says. Then there is always the danger of things tipping over into extremes. "We already have signs of that."