Will pre-trial detention be imposed?

Baby froze to death in garbage: interrogations continue

The little girl from the clinic was discovered here in these garbage cans.

(Bild: Bartel Gerhard/Gerhard Bartel, Krone KREATIV)

Following the terrible tragedy on Thursday, in which a one-week-old baby was "dumped" in a waste container not far from Vienna's Favoriten clinic, the mother is still considered a suspect. The 30-year-old is still in police custody. It was initially unclear if and when she would be remanded in custody.

A newborn baby was left to die, alone and frozen to death in a plastic waste container. And no one knows why. The tragic story of Melek, the girl from the Favoriten clinic in Vienna, divides a country. On the one hand, it is causing grief, dismay, anger and a lack of understanding. At the same time, however, it also shook society awake to a topic that is often still taboo: depression (postpartum psychosis).

Girl was only ten days old
So far, we only know the facts of the ten-day-old baby girl's death drama: she was taken from her warm bed in the premature baby ward, wrapped in a blanket and a plastic bag, carried out into the icy open air and thrown into a garbage can outside the hospital grounds.

On Friday morning, after a huge search operation, tough interrogations and contradictory statements, the baby's mother led the officers to her "discarded" child. Too late. It had frozen to death.

Mother in police custody
It is still unclear what will happen to the 30-year-old Turkish-born woman, who, as reported in detail, was arrested on urgent suspicion of murder.

The woman, who is suspected of murder, is currently in custody and questioning is ongoing. It is unclear whether the - presumably mentally impaired - woman can be remanded in custody. The public prosecutor's office had not yet submitted a corresponding application by Saturday evening.

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