Now the mother speaks

Anna’s Now: New friends – and old fears

For months, the high school student was repeatedly raped by 17 boys - during the day, in private rooms, garages, stairwells and hotel rooms.(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

The first trial in the mass rape of a twelve-year-old schoolgirl from Vienna-Favoriten will take place soon. "I'll be in the courtroom," says the girl's mother: "But I'm afraid of having to watch videos of the atrocities committed against my child."

A few days ago, in a small café somewhere in Vienna. The area around it seems nice, quiet, almost tranquil. With the pretty detached houses, the rather low apartment blocks, the many meadows and trees. "I'm glad that I now live here with my children," says Katharina K. (name changed) as she takes a seat at a table in the restaurant's garden - the sun is shining and it's pleasantly warm. "Everything is so peaceful here, very different from Favoriten." Where Anna (name changed), one of her daughters, had to suffer terrible things.