After child abuse

Lower Austria: Asylum seeker beats man with belt to hospital

The man beat his victims with a belt. A week earlier, he had allegedly sexually abused two girls in the city lake in Horn.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, stock.adobe.com, Stadtgemeinde Horn, bonnontawat)

Unbelievable scenes took place on Friday evening in Horn (Lower Austria). A 35-year-old Afghan man went berserk on the church square and maltreated his victims with a belt. One ended up in intensive care with serious head injuries. The perpetrator is said to have sexually assaulted two girls beforehand.

The emergency services were called to the church square shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday. The report made their blood run cold: The thorn of a belt buckle was stuck in a man's head. It is said to have been hit in the head by a 35-year-old Afghan shortly before. The victim had to be flown to hospital by emergency helicopter, but an emergency operation saved his life.

Two girls touched indecently
A total of two other people are said to have been injured by the asylum seeker in the course of the altercation. The reason for the argument is still under investigation. However, the act is likely to be connected to a sexual assault a week earlier in the Horner Stadtsee, as the police confirmed on request. There, the same man is said to have touched a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old girl indecently. He is also accused of taking photos of other young people and approaching them. 

The asylum seeker was temporarily arrested at the time, but was subsequently charged again at large. As the man had already made several violent appearances before and is said to have demolished the door to the asylum center, some of the officials see a "judicial scandal", as the 35-year-old was still at large before the brutal act on Friday. He is now in custody.

"No place in Austria"
"There is no place for such violent criminals in Austria. The rule here is: lock them up and deport them, and I expect the justice system to finally take a tougher stance," says Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP). Only yesterday, Karner met the German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in Berlin for a working meeting to jointly advance the deportation of criminals to Afghanistan.