16-year-old charged

Girlfriend (15) beaten “so she would lose child”

In November 2023, a 15-year-old at the time punched his pregnant girlfriend several times in the stomach.

(Bild: JOHANNA SCHLOSSER)

It is unbelievable why a 16-year-old is sitting in the dock in Vienna's regional court: he regularly beat his girlfriend, who was the same age, and once he even raped her. When the girl became pregnant unplanned, he didn't like it - he tried to force an abortion with violence. The senate of lay assessors considers 15 months, one of which in prison, to be appropriate.

The two were just 14 years old when they entered into a relationship - at 16, they were already sitting opposite each other in court as victim and defendant. In a monotone and emotionless voice, the stateless man faces the accusations of the public prosecutor. Which are even more shocking in view of his young age. 

"First beaten weekly and then daily"
From June 2023 to March 2024, the then 15-year-old is said to have been regularly violent towards his girlfriend. "He first beat her weekly and then daily," pleaded the public prosecutor. It would have been groundless jealousy and differences of opinion that the accused did not know how to resolve otherwise.

Pregnant 16-year-old girl beaten up
In November 2023, the girl told her boyfriend that she was pregnant. "The defendant was initially happy about the child," said the public prosecutor. But that quickly changed: When the girl refused to have an abortion, he allegedly hit her against the stomach several times - "so that she would lose the child". Two months later, he also allegedly raped her. 

§ Section 98 StGB Termination of pregnancy without the consent of the pregnant woman

(1) Anyone who terminates a pregnant woman's pregnancy without her consent shall be punished with imprisonment of up to three years; if the act results in the death of the pregnant woman, with imprisonment of six months to five years.

The 16-year-old in the Vienna Regional Court is quite unimpressed by the accusations - probably the only one in the entire courtroom. He admits: "I only hit her in the face. But not every day." Then he begins to talk about their relationship: The young couple had almost only met in a park, sometimes at Vienna-Landstraße station. "My parents didn't allow that between us," explains the teenager. 

Jealousy quickly set in for the accused: "We kept arguing about it. I hit her about ten times, with the flat of my hand. I didn't know any better" - but he didn't make a face. However, the photos of the girl's cheek that are held up to him show a large bruise. "That looks more like a fist to me," the judge confronts him.

I hit her about ten times, with the flat of my hand. I didn't know any better.

16-jähriger Angeklagter im Wiener Landesgericht

Leniency for denying youth
But the 16-year-old denies this. And he also pleaded not guilty to the charges of rape and attempted abortion without the pregnant woman's consent. However, the panel of lay judges believes the girl, who testifies in camera, and the impressive pictures of the injuries.

However, the sentence is lenient: 15 months in prison - only one of which was actually spent in prison.