Mother stands trial in the canton of Bern for killing her daughter
Published: Wednesday, Jun 5th 2024, 04:51
العودة إلى البث المباشر
From Wednesday, a 32-year-old woman will stand trial in the canton of Bern for murder, possibly intentional homicide. The accused allegedly killed her then eight-year-old daughter in a forest not far from her home in Niederwangen BE in February 2022.
When the police found the child lifeless in the forest, it was initially unclear whether it was an accident or a violent crime. However, the suspicion that the mother may have killed the child was confirmed.
The 32-year-old woman has been in custody ever since. She denies the crime. She is presumed innocent. The accused has unsuccessfully defended herself against her imprisonment up to the Federal Supreme Court.
According to this Federal Supreme Court ruling, the Bernese judiciary considers it "at least plausible" that the woman could have killed her daughter due to excessive demands and the incompatibility of being a mother with her desired private life. She must have suspected that her daughter was at least one of the reasons why her former partner had ended the relationship with her.
The Bern-Mittelland Regional Court of First Instance will now have to clarify in the next few days whether the woman actually killed her daughter and, if so, why.
The public prosecutor's office assumes that the mother took the child to the Könizbergwald forest on the day of the crime and inflicted serious head injuries with a stone. Blood and hair from the girl and a trace of the mother's DNA were found on the stone. In addition, a twelve-year-old boy testified that he had seen the woman and her daughter in the forest shortly before the time of the crime.
The trial is scheduled to last three days and the verdict will be announced on June 13. At the time, the case caused great consternation in the region and far beyond.
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