Trial in Carinthia

Six-year-old abused: “Mommy, it hurts so much!”

Unbelievable accusations against a mother and her ex-family(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

"Mommy, it hurts so much!" cried a six-year-old when she was beaten with nettles by her mother. The mother admits this herself - and confesses how her daughter was also mistreated by her ex-stepfather and grandmother. Among other things, the little girl was dumped in a pond - without being able to swim!

In her zeal, Judge Marlene Moshammer forgets to give prosecutor Doris Wieser the floor for the prosecution - but little by little, the inconceivable acts of which three Carinthians are accused are revealed during the trial at Klagenfurt Regional Court: They are said to have emotionally tortured and physically abused a little girl, their daughter, stepdaughter and step-granddaughter, now only nine years old, over a long period of time. In a perfidious way. "I was always bad," the little girl would later tell her caregivers. "That's why they were so angry with me."

First there is the mother, a 39-year-old blonde, who is sitting apart from the other two defendants: "Yes, I am guilty," she confesses. "Unfortunately, I was completely overwhelmed." She had often chastised her child, the middle of three children, because she was "difficult" - among other things, she had beaten her with stinging nettles. "She screamed and cried, mummy, it hurts so much," the woman says in a low voice. "That's when I stopped and realized what was going on. She put me up to it."

Yes, I am guilty. Unfortunately, I was completely out of my depth.

Die angeklagte Mutter vor Gericht

Child thrown into pond as punishment
"She" was the ex-mother-in-law, an experienced social worker, who had exemplified the brutal parenting style - including the son, who had given the troublesome stepchild a cold shower and even thrown him into the icy pond to punish him. "She was so scared, she couldn't swim," says the mother. There is also talk of punishments in the cellar, of resounding slaps and hair being pulled out.

The mother confessed in court.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

Child has a panic fear of many things
"She panics about any form of confinement," reports a foster mother. "And every time she sees a spider, she freaks out and can hardly calm down." Who knows how long the child's ordeal lasted for such fears to develop?

She panics about any form of confinement. And every time she sees a spider, she freaks out.

Die Pflegemutter

The co-defendants try to paint a completely different picture of a normal home. The little girl "loved her stepfather to death", as did her step-grandmother, who looked after her in a "pedagogically valuable" way and could not explain why her own son had accused her in front of the youth welfare office and also admitted to his own abuse.

In court, however, everyone tells a different story in which they look as favorable and harmless as possible. It doesn't seem to matter that this is about the fate of a child who is also struggling with a diagnosis of ADHD and the demons of his early years. The trial was adjourned because nine more witnesses and an expert witness were needed.