Trial in Feldkirch

Wife was repeatedly abused

The Serb represented by Thomas Kaufmann was sentenced to a partial fine. (Bild: Dorn Chantall)

A violent Serbian man is said to have repeatedly abused his wife. He has now been sentenced to a partial fine for assault and dangerous threats. 

The ordeal of the 49-year-old wife lasted more than ten years. She was beaten and strangled. On one occasion, her violent husband hit her in the face with a piece of bread and threatened to kill her or their ten-year-old son if she went to the police. These are the accounts of a woman who repeatedly burst into tears during her court hearing in Feldkirch on Friday.

But the victim has no objective evidence of the acts of violence. She has allegedly deleted photos of the injuries inflicted, such as hematomas, from her cell phone. "I don't know why," says the Serbian woman. But seven police interventions and five expulsions of the accused in the past do not cast the husband in a good light.

"In 2017, I was even accommodated in a women's shelter for a while with my then three-year-old son," reports the victim and submits a confirmation to the court. After the most recent incident in November, the Serbian woman wanted to file for divorce. The Serbian is said to have grabbed the 49-year-old by the arms in the apartment they shared in Unterland and then choked her. He is also said to have threatened to kill her during this attack.

In the end, however, the substrate was not sufficient for Judge Lisa Pfeifer to convict him of continued violence. The reason: the victim had stated during the trial that she had only been beaten, strangled and threatened a few times during the year. The Frau Rat therefore found the Serbian guilty of the incident in November last year and sentenced him to a partial fine of 3,600 euros for assault and dangerous threats. The verdict is not yet final.