Couple on trial

Bloody dispute over abortion ends in court

The trial took place at Linz Provincial Court(Bild: Constantin Handl, Krone KREATIV)

When police officers arrived at an apartment in Linz on the night of January 22, they found a 36-year-old man with a stab wound. The man had allegedly been stabbed by his partner, whom the injured man had previously coerced into having an abortion. The bloody drama came to a temporary end in court on Thursday.

A 36-year-old woman was accused of grievous bodily harm and the offense of abortion. The accused allegedly attacked her partner of the same age with a knife in an apartment in Bindermichl in Linz on January 21 and stabbed him in the shoulder area.

The injured man called the emergency services himself
The injured man was able to call the police himself and was already bleeding when the officers arrived. He stated that his girlfriend had inflicted the injuries on him and she was arrested in the apartment. Prior to this, there had been an argument in which the 36-year-old had allegedly grabbed the woman by the hair and dragged her out of the apartment.

Foetus in toilet
The reason for the argument was an abortion that the man had demanded from his partner. Police officers found pictures on a cell phone showing a fetus in a toilet. The abortion would have been carried out with an illegal drug from Poland.

36-year-old confesses
On Tuesday, the bloody drama came to a temporary end at Linz Provincial Court. The 36-year-old man confessed to the charge of coercion and was sentenced to five months' conditional imprisonment. As he appeared before the judge without a defense lawyer, he has three days to reconsider, until then the sentence is not legally binding.

The 36-year-old woman did not attend the trial and was put on the wanted list. If convicted, she faces six months to five years in prison.