process
Infant drowned in toilet – young mother admits killing
The defendant at the Munich Regional Court I. Photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
The birth left her “completely overwhelmed and helpless,” the defendant said in court. She said she took full responsibility through her lawyer.
A 20-year-old has confessed to having her newborn baby boy in one drowned in the toilet bowl. She was overwhelmed by the birth in May of last year and had the feeling that she was not allowed to give birth to an illegitimate child in her religious family, she said in the murder trial before the Munich I regional court. “I have learned a lot and I am taking full responsibility Responsible for my actions,” she told the court through her lawyer.
The defendant from Garching near Munich became pregnant as a result of an affair with a man who moved away shortly afterwards. The child’s father takes part in the proceedings as a co-plaintiff.
According to the public prosecutor, the trainee chef primarily feared consequences for her career in the catering industry, which she considered incompatible with life as a mother.
In her statement, the 20-year-old particularly emphasized her relationship with her family, which has a total of eight siblings and is very much influenced by the Christian faith. The father was an anti-abortion activist. An illegitimate child would therefore have “destroyed the desired appearance of the perfect family”. She feared that she would be “expelled”.
She only realized she was pregnant a few months before the crime and never went to a doctor. The birth left her “completely overwhelmed and helpless” and she suffered “unbelievable fear”. During the day, a midwife and the child’s father, among others, will testify.