Near train station in Lower Austria

Woman stalked and raped: Four years in prison

(Bild: APA/WERNER KERSCHBAUMMAYR (Symbolbild), Krone KREATIV)

Judgment day in a trial that could not have been more gruesome: A young woman was on her way from the train to her car in Gramatneusiedl (Lower Austria). A 39-year-old man, who also came from Vienna, followed her, attacked her and raped the woman in her car. The verdicts against him and his co-defendant mother (65) were handed down on Thursday.

A surveillance video shows a man getting into an elevator at Gramatneusiedl train station (Lower Austria) on August 1, followed by a woman he did not know. The accused followed his later victim across the parking lot, also seen in one of the videos: "Suddenly he grabbed the woman, pushed her against her vehicle," reports the public prosecutor in Korneuburg District Court. After choking her and slapping her in the face, the man from Lower Austria raped his victim.

Guilty verdict also for mother
Unusual: His mother, who picked up her son at the time, is also on trial. She gave false testimony to the police. "I was in an exceptional emotional situation", she pleaded not guilty to giving false evidence. Nevertheless, the 65-year-old was not sentenced to six months' conditional imprisonment on Thursday.

Lawyer Astrid Wagner defended the 39-year-old.

(Bild: Groh Klemens/Klemens Groh)

Victim severely traumatized
Her son, defended by Astrid Wagner, must serve four years in prison. The man, who has been certified as sane by an expert opinion, accepts the sentence. "It's terrible what happened. But I can't remember anything," the rapist claimed during the trial.

He has to pay the victim around 4400 euros in compensation. The woman is traumatized by the incident and is still very afraid to go out or use public transport.