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Mother of dead baby released on bail

The mother of a dead baby found inside a rubbish bin in the toilet of an Austrian train heading for Munich was released on bail in June.

Mother of dead baby released on bail
The baby was found in an Austrian Railways train at Munich's main station. Photo: DPA
The 21-year-old student from South Korea was arrested on May 23rd, on suspicion of causing the death of her newborn baby, which was apparently abandoned inside the rubbish bin of a toilet cubicle of the train while passing through Austria.
 
The spokeswoman for the Vienna Regional Court, Christina Salzborn, confirmed that the woman's release occurred on June 4th, according to the Austrian Press Association (APA), which was following up on a report in the Kronen Zeitung newspaper.
 
The Paris-based woman had been held in custody after her arrest until a bail hearing, at which point she was freed on payment of €5,000 bail bond.  The woman has been charged with the murder of her child at birth by suffocation, and could face a custodial sentence of up to five years.  At this time, no date has been set for the trial.
 
Nina Bussek of the Vienna Public Prosecutor's office said "There is no deadline to run the investigation."
 
It is not known whether the woman is still in Austria, however usually in such cases any travel documents are held by the court when there is a flight risk, and strict police reporting requirements are imposed.  According to the daily Kronen Zeitung newspaper, the woman is regularly updating her Facebook page, including posting "selfies."
 
The dead new-born was found by cleaners during the night of May 20th on an Austrian State Railways (ÖBB) train from Budapest upon its arrival in Munich.  
 

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CRIME

Austria investigates 17 teens for alleged sexual abuse of girl

Austrian authorities on Friday said they were investigating 17 teenagers - including 12 minors - over the alleged months-long sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl in Vienna last year.

Austria investigates 17 teens for alleged sexual abuse of girl

The alleged offences took place in a disadvantaged area of the capital’s south “between February and June 2023, in toilets, garages, a hotel and in the perpetrators’ homes”, Florian Finda, deputy director of the Vienna police, told a news conference.

The suspects in the rare case – most of whom are aged between 14 and 18 – are of Bulgarian, Italian, Serbian, Syrian and Turkish origin.

Two of them are under 14 and therefore below Austria’s age of criminal responsibility.

The suspects – almost all of whom were known to police for other offences – are accused of serious sexual abuse of a minor, including the pornographic depiction of the abuse of a minor.

Thirteen suspects were questioned on Thursday, with some of them partially denying the allegations.

The suspects and the Austrian victim met through one of the accused, with whom the then 12-year-old is said to have made out with.

She was then introduced to the rest of the group.

The boys allegedly exchanged videos and photos of the abuse via social networks including WhatsApp chats, with one of them allegedly threatening to share the pornographic material.

According to the police, none of the material was made available to the wider public.

In October, the young girl, now 13, informed her mother, who subsequently filed a complaint.

The ongoing investigation is due to be transferred to the public prosecutor’s office.

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