Because she is said not to have taken sufficient care of her seriously ill daughter, who has been bedridden for several years, an 81-year-old woman had to answer to the Vienna regional court on Friday for gross neglect resulting in death. In the end, the previously blameless pensioner was “clearly” acquitted, as the presiding judge, Andreas Böhm, emphasized: “You did nothing wrong.” The decision is final.
The jury came to the conclusion that the daughter, who had suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years, was in her right mind until her death. “She made a conscious decision not to seek treatment and to die at home,” the presiding judge said. That was “acceptable under Austrian law”, the mother had not committed any criminal behavior.
Judge apologized
The judge even apologized to the 81-year-old, “that you must have done that (the court hearing, note) too”. Prosecutor Michael Radasticz also accepted the acquittal immediately.
The 52-year-old daughter died in her apartment in Meidling on August 15, 2021. At her death she weighed only 25 kilograms.
The pensioner described moving into her daughter’s home in late 2020 to look after her after her husband died during surgery in 2014 and her son later suffered a fatal heart attack. The move became necessary because the daughter’s partner, who had taken care of her up to then, suddenly died.
“I did everything I could,” said the petite, small defendant who relies on a walking stick and was accompanied to the trial by her brother’s children. She washed her daughter, changed the bandages and bandages and took care of the food: “I did it as best I could. I persuaded her that a nurse could do it better than me. She didn’t want that. I did I told her to eat because I want her to get well. As a mother, I tried so hard to get it back together.”
“I begged her”
In the beginning, they supported privately organized helpers with care and supplies. However, due to the corona and lockdown, she was largely on her own. She was aware that her daughter was getting weaker and was hardly eating. She “begged her to go to a doctor. She didn’t want to. She forbade me to call one. She said she wanted to die in the apartment.” The defendant emphasized that she had pushed for professional care: “My daughter didn’t want that.” Rather, she threatened that she would break off contact if she ended up in a hospital, the mother explained.
Died in mother’s arms
On the day of her death, the 81-year-old said she saw her daughter at 6 a.m. in the morning. She lay awake in bed and asked her for a cigarette, the mother reported. She smoked her daughter “in peace”: “Then she just lay there. Then I felt that she was gone and disappearing.” She hugged her daughter’s head and called her nephew when she saw no sign of life.
The rescue service informed by this found the death of the 52-year-old a short time later.
Source: Nachrichten
