Abseiled out of a window?

Second child abduction: “I was just protecting her”

The slender woman is determined to fight for her children.(Bild: zVg)

For the second time in six months, a 39-year-old woman is standing before a judge in Vienna. Once again, she hid her four-year-old daughter from the youth welfare office - which actually has custody of her. In order to evade the authorities, she is even said to have roped the little girl out of a third-floor window using bed sheets. 

The accused is almost completely covered by her defense lawyer, shielded from the cameras that want to take pictures of her. The small, delicate 39-year-old is led into the Vienna courtroom in handcuffs. Her appearance gives little indication of the tenacity the woman is capable of displaying. This is the second time she has been on trial for child abduction - within six months. 

Two child abductions since acceptance in May
At the beginning of May 2023, the mother's three children, aged four, eleven and 14, were taken away from her by the youth welfare office. "They forced me to sign and then they took my children away without my signature," the defendant told the judge. The trigger: they did not attend school regularly and the housing situation was problematic. "I didn't kill anyone. I was just protecting my children," said the 39-year-old, seeking understanding.

She threw herself on the floor and screamed: "I don't want to go back to the crisis center". It was such a pain. I couldn't take her back.

Angeklagte Mutter (39) über ihre vierjährige Tochter

They were not doing well in the care of the youth welfare office. The older ones kept running away, fleeing back to their mother. She didn't bring the four-year-old back after one visit: "She threw herself on the floor and screamed: 'I don't want to go back to the crisis center'. It was such a pain. I couldn't take her back." It is not known where she hid the little girl for months ...

Daughter roped down from the third floor?
On February 15, the problematic contact with the youth welfare office is said to have ended in an abstruse incident: The Viennese mother had - when the MA 11 knocked on her door - roped the four-year-old down from the third floor using tied-up bed sheets and a children's swing. The public prosecutor's office charged her with endangering physical safety. 

§ Section 195 StGB Child abduction

(1) Anyone who removes a person under the age of sixteen from their legal guardian, conceals them from them, induces them to remove themselves from them or conceal themselves from them, or helps them to do so, shall be liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding one year or a monetary penalty not exceeding 720 daily rates.

(2) Anyone who commits the offense in relation to a minor shall be punished with imprisonment of up to three years.

The 39-year-old pleads not guilty without giving any further details about the cinematic escape maneuver. The fact is therefore eliminated, it is "only" about the child abduction: in addition to the nine months of conditional imprisonment she served in September, she now has to serve an additional 16 months in prison. According to the judge, the fact that she handed the child back to the youth welfare office the day before her trial was a major mitigating factor. The verdict is not final. 

Mr. Rat still wants to know what the future holds for the mother: "My plan is to get my children back." - "Do you want to work with the youth welfare office in the future?" - "Yes, I do," whispers the Viennese woman ...