“Martyrdom” – Boy in Cage: Even the lawyer fought back tears

The crowds in front of the jury courtroom in Krems (Lower Austria) are enormous on Monday morning: a year and a half after the atrocities committed by a woman from the Waldviertel against her own child became known, the 33-year-old mother has now had to answer in court for attempting to murder, torture and neglect.

Her former best friend also sits next to the woman in front of the jury. She is said to have given the instructions for the horrors.

Eerie silence in the courtroom
When the door opens around 9 a.m. and the two women enter the interrogation room, there is an eerie silence. “The horror mother and her sadistic friend,” whispering voices can be heard. At first glance, the accused women appear unremarkable. But appearances are very deceiving. The woman who gave birth to her son Gerhard (name changed) in 2010 almost took it away again in 2022. Due to excessive demands and as an educational measure, as the 33-year-old says.

Bub lost twenty kilos in a few months
From the prosecutor’s perspective, because of sadism and slavery. According to the prosecutor, the horror mother tortured the boy under the direction – and apparently on behalf of – of her once ‘good friend’. Gerhard was literally saved at the last minute.

Incredible pain
The twelve-year-old had to endure incredible torment for months. He was admitted to the hospital on November 20, 2022, emaciated to 40 kilograms (with a height of 165 centimeters), with a body temperature of 26.5 degrees, enormous circulatory problems, open and festering wounds on his arms and legs and all in coma. stands. Only then did the full extent of the torment gradually become apparent.

“Death was a foregone conclusion”
“Death was a foregone conclusion for him,” the prosecutor states in her opening statement, reporting an “incredible martyrdom.” The defendant speaks calmly and in the Waldviertler dialect: “I want him to follow me. It was always difficult between Gerhard and me. I think he hates me. His behavior was not normal. He was in therapy from a young age.”

Both sit quietly in the dock with tears in their faces – and blame each other. When asked why, she usually answers: “Because she said so to me…”. She refers to the second defendant.

The women had known each other for a long time and temporarily lived together during Corona times. The 40-year-old, herself a mother of four, is said to have used a lie to make the 33-year-old submissive – and submissive to her sadistic tendencies.

After the twelve-year-old wet the bed several times in the summer of 2022, he was banished to a dog basket as punishment. “I picked up the fuse and he liked it on purpose,” his mother said. Who woke him up by throwing cold water on him. “Where to?” asks Mrs. Rat. Answer: “Upside down.” There was also a constant shortage of food.

The police returned the boy to his tormentor
Desperate from the abuse and punishment, the 12-year-old stormed over the balcony. Ironically, the police returned the child to his tormentor. The Youth Care Office, which came to the apartment twice in the autumn of 2022, also did not intervene. To prevent Gerhard from running away again, the woman started locking the child in the dog crate. Gerhard was forced to remain locked up for hours, bound and gagged, while cold water was poured over him, with the window open. Again and again.

The verdict will be announced on Thursday
“Yes, he did scream,” said the 33-year-old, who took photos and videos of the torture of her child. She sent this to the second defendant. When the shocking images were shown in the audience, many attendees cried. Jurors also look at each other. They will discuss the punishments on Thursday.