Motive is bizarre

Linz woman rammed knife into her own stomach

(Bild: Daniel Scharinger)

"It was me, there was no robbery" - now a young woman from Linz has come clean and switched from the role of victim to perpetrator. She had claimed to have been stabbed by a robber - but she had stabbed herself. Her motive is bizarre.

She kept up the lie for five months, but now a 21-year-old woman from Linz has admitted: "I stabbed myself in the stomach and only faked an attack by an unknown perpetrator!" In October of the previous year, she had called for help in Fröbelstraße in Linz and was treated in hospital for a stab wound to the stomach. A robber had stabbed her, the injured woman reported, and even the provincial criminal investigation office was investigating the case.

Now came the turning point: The Linz woman admitted that it had been she herself who had stabbed herself in the upper abdomen with a knife bought especially for this purpose and had lied about the robbery.

§ Section 298 StGB Pretending to commit a punishable offense

(1) Anyone who knowingly feigns the commission of a punishable offense to an authority or an official responsible for receiving reports shall be punished with imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 360 daily rates, unless the offense is punishable under Section 297 (1).

(2) Pursuant to subsection (1), anyone who voluntarily ensures that the offense does not result in an official investigation shall not be punished.

The motive for the offense was that she wanted to show how dangerous it was in the Franckviertel in Linz. In addition, the accused got off "too cheaply" for crimes she had been involved in - so she wanted to attract attention. Now she herself is being charged with faking an offense punishable by law.