negotiation
Munich District Court I hears two cases of forced sterilization
Two cases of forced sterilization have been heard in the Munich I District Court since Monday. A verdict is expected by the end of June.
© David-Wolfgang Ebener/dpa
Since Monday, the Munich I Regional Court has been dealing with two serious cases of forced sterilization. The main defendant is a doctor who is charged with two counts of aggravated assault.
Furthermore, the parents of a young man are on trial for alleged complicity in these acts. As a spokesman for the court announced at the beginning of the hearing, the indictment was read out first. The accused doctor was initially covered in relation to the allegations.
In 2016, a 17-year-old boy had his spermatic duct severed during an inguinal hernia operation in Munich. According to the indictment, the accused doctor carried out the sterilization “knowingly and intentionally”, although the patient’s documents did not contain any instructions for carrying out such a measure.
The sterilization, as pointed out in the indictment, was carried out without the knowledge or consent of the patient or his parents. Despite a subsequent operation, the affected person remains permanently infertile. The doctor, who only gave personal information this Monday, is said to have spoken of a mix-up earlier.
Compulsory sterilization: A second case
In a second case, the parents of a mentally handicapped 24-year-old had a sterilization performed by a doctor friend in the same year. According to the indictment, this took place despite the parents’ knowledge of the high legal hurdles for such an intervention.
The responsible care court in Rosenheim had previously informed the parents that an expert opinion on the young man’s ability to give consent would be required. This was ignored by both the parents and the doctor, leaving the parents on trial for assisting in grievous bodily harm.
The hearing is scheduled for another four days. A verdict is expected by the end of June.