Victim filmed with

Viennese woman and baby attacked with a wooden pole

The victim (right) filmed her attacker (left) committing the crime.

(Bild: Reinhard Holl, zVg, Krone KREATIV)

A Viennese woman and her baby had the fright of their lives last week in Simmering. A presumably homeless African man attacked them with a stick without warning.  

When Jasspreet S. (name changed) got out of her car with her baby in her arms in Simmering's Spinngasse at 7.30 p.m. on March 4, an African man marched towards her. The man started shouting for no reason, the shocked engineer told the Krone. He then hit the duo with a wooden stick.

S. turned away to protect her 19-month-old daughter, received blows to the arm and fled into the car. Two witnesses intervened. Although she was not injured, the shock remains. Her baby has been frightened ever since, and she herself is afraid that the alleged homeless man and drug addict will attack her again.

The victim filmed her attacker committing the crime.

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

(Bild: Reinhard Holl, zVg, Krone KREATIV)

Police spokesman Philipp Haßlinger confirmed charges of attempted assault and damage to property - the suspect is probably at large. In order to have evidence in court, S. filmed the African with his cell phone. Jasspreet S. had already been attacked once.

Attack as a "warning signal"
The attack is a "warning signal for the need to take measures against unprovoked acts of violence, but also to strengthen support networks", says Jasspreet. The Viennese woman explains that she has also been the target of an attack in Meidling.

The man, who was most likely drug-impaired, is said to have hit the woman's arm with a branch/stick. He was reported to the police.

Philipp Haßlinger, Polizeisprecher

The beating is likely to evoke memories of a gruesome murder for many people. In May 2016, a mentally ill, homeless Kenyan man with a criminal record beat a 54-year-old woman to death with an iron bar on her way to work at the Ottakringer Brunnenmarkt.