Trial in Duisburg
Three-year-old locked in the basement and suffocated – parents remain silent in court
The two 40-year-old defendants are said to have locked their little daughter in the basement for days – until she suffocated
© Christoph Reichwein / DPA
The judges accuse the parents of “pseudo-educational measures.” They are said to have locked their daughter away – out of hatred and to keep the child quiet. The defendants remain silent.
They must have been terrible scenes: six months ago a three-year-old girl died Dinslaken died in the basement of an apartment building. The parents are said to have locked it there for days to have peace and quiet. They have been on trial in Duisburg since Thursday. The charge is murder.
Parents are said to have locked their three-year-old daughter in the basement for days
When the accused mother was led into the courtroom by the sergeants, her defense attorney quickly wrapped a cloth around her head so that she would not be recognized in photos and films. The 40-year-old hid her face behind a file cover – just like her husband of the same age. At the start of the trial at the Duisburg jury court, the parents remained silent about the allegations.
The public prosecutor’s office assumes that the defendants locked up their daughter for six days in September last year. According to the prosecution, the girl was tied to a chair with adhesive tape and at times gagged. According to the public prosecutor’s office, she choked on vomited food on October 1st.
“Pseudo-educational measures” in Dinslaken
The indictment refers to “pseudo-educational measures.” The parents were “driven by hatred.” They wanted peace and quiet from their daughter who was “annoying” them.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the father weighed the body down that same day or the following night and threw it into the Rhine-Herne Canal near Oberhausen. Fire department divers later recovered the dead girl there.
Almost a week after the child’s death, the 40-year-old showed up at the police station in Dinslaken and told the officers that his daughter had died. He also mentioned the place where he dumped the girl’s body.
The girl’s co-accused mother is accused of “encouraging” her husband to commit the crimes. According to the public prosecutor, both defendants at least accepted the death of their daughter. The three-year-old is said to have suffered several attacks of suffocation before her death. The cause of death was later determined to be cardiovascular failure.
The indictment lists cruelty, base motives and treachery as the characteristics of murder. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the three-year-old was completely innocent and defenseless. Her parents took advantage of that. The Duisburg jury has initially set aside six more days of hearings for the trial, until May 15th. If convicted of murder, both defendants face life in prison.