Two citizens of Romania and Italy have been sentenced to 12 years in prison each for beating, raping, and robbing a 58-year-old woman in Austria, who was left lying battered just 150 meters from her front door on Christmas of last year.
The two defendants, both who are 22 years old, were convicted of beating the woman near the Floridsdorf train station, raping her, and then stealing her bag and cell phone.
In court, the Italian citizen in the case spoke of a “test of courage” in court to explain his actions, while the Romanian brother-in-law accused the 58-year-old victim of being “pushy,” telling Judge Eva Brandstetter that the woman approached them in the middle of the street and claiming that the woman would not let them go, resulting in the men pushing her away. They claim this is what caused the woman’s injuries, according to Austrian news outlet Kroner Zeitung.
The medical records show the woman suffered a displaced broken nose, a broken ankle, and various severe bruises across her body. The beating was so bad that she required operations.
“Why is the victim supposedly making up the whole story?” Judge Brandstetter asked the defendants. “Maybe she needs money,” one of them responded with the help of a translator. The convicted suspect then asked: “Why didn’t she just leave us alone?” The question reportedly left the prosecutor in the case “speechless” as a result.
A forensic expert, Dr. Christian Reiter, told the court that the incident could not have occurred as the men described, but instead supported the victim’s account of the incident. He said that there were “multiple blunt force injuries to the face.”
“All I remember is that the one on my right was kneeling on the grass and punching my face. I tried to scream, but every time I wanted to scream, he covered my mouth. I couldn’t open my eyes because they were so swollen,” the victim said in court.
After providing her testimony, she was not forced to listen to the defendants’ statements. She said that after the severe beating and rape, the men simply left her lying in a meadow, out in the cold until a witness walked past and called the police and an ambulance.
The media reports that the woman spoke in a fragile voice, saying: “My whole body became stiff and cold.”
The 58-year-old testified in Vienna’s regional court during a combative hearing.
While the woman was being treated in the hospital for serious injuries, the Romanian and the Italian citizens were still busy buying things with their ATM cards: four packs of cigarettes, food, and cell phone accessories from a vending machine, a fact that both 22-year-olds confessed to.
Both men were found guilty on all counts, with the judge stating: “This exaggerated level of violence is particularly shocking.”
Both men received 12 years in prison, and the victim was awarded €14,620 in damages.
