The woman came to Vienna in the spring of 2017 to build a better life for herself, but instead she fell into the clutches of a suspected human trafficker. The accused – a 41-year-old Bosnian – is said to have had the woman work for him and later to have dripped hydrochloric acid into her left eye with the intention of fraudulent insurance.
According to the indictment, the 41-year-old had taken out several accident insurance policies without the knowledge of the woman, who does not speak German and who can neither read nor write. In June 2018, after using her for activities that earned him money – which prosecutors say were largely fraudulent activities – he is said to have forced the woman to lie on the floor of the bathroom in order to to burn her left eye. He then took her to the hospital and claimed that while she was cleaning, she had gotten her cleaning agent in her eyes.
“I’ve never seen such cruelty”
“Out of sheer greed, he claimed an accident while cleaning,” said public prosecutor Philipp Coufal at the beginning of the proceedings. The accused had authority to sign for the account closed in the woman’s name and withdrew the money – around 30,000 euros. “In my eight years with the public prosecutor’s office, I have never seen such cruelty,” emphasized the prosecutor of the acid attack, which is criminalized as intentionally causing serious bodily harm.
On top of that. Three weeks later, the 41-year-old is said to have gone to Hungary with the Bulgarian, where he is said to have tied her to a door with an accomplice who is still unknown to the judiciary and chopped off the thumb of her left hand. He then declared this as an accident at work, for which he collected a total of 25,000 euros from three insurance companies.
“I helped so that she earns money”
The defendant admitted to having committed order fraud. He denied the main allegations. He wanted to “help”. “He neither hurt his eye with hydrochloric acid nor cut off his thumb,” said defender Mathias Burger in the introduction.
The 41-year-old then emphasized in his interrogation that he had “helped the now 57-year-old woman so that she could earn money”. He initially had them hand out notes. At her friend’s request, he assured her “because she’s clumsy when she moves.” He then had her cleaned. One day she injured her eye.
Accused: “It wasn’t true at all”
“If she walks normally, she’s clumsy,” the accused testified, standing up and aping the – alleged – gait of the Bulgarian. “She hurt herself while cleaning the apartment. She hurt her eye,” said the 41-year-old.
He had never been to Hungary with his wife. She went there with her partner. She lost her left thumb: “It was an accident. They did gardening. That’s what happened.” The defendant also denied other facts included in the indictment – a punch in the face, a knocked out tooth, threats of death if she did not parry. “None of that is true.” When asked why the 57-year-old was bothering him, the Bosnian-born said: “Because I kicked her out of the apartment.”
Source: Nachrichten
