Austrian prosecutors are probing whether a broader “rape network” was involved after a 51-year-old man allegedly beat and raped his intoxicated wife, leaving her to bleed to death in their Upper Austria home.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, died on June 26 at the residence she shared with her husband in Marchtrenk, near Wels, according to authorities. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene after responding to the home.
She suffered blunt force trauma to her abdomen and genital area during what authorities characterized as a “sex game,” Austrian newspaper Krone reported. The injuries were severe enough that she bled to death, and authorities noted they “indicate violence” rather than any accidental cause.
The husband, also 51, initially attempted to frame his wife’s death as an “accident” that occurred during consensual sex, prosecutors said. Investigators quickly rejected that account based on the nature and severity of her wounds.
The woman was described as “extremely intoxicated” and “defenseless” during the assault, though it remains unclear whether she had been drugged or had consumed alcohol voluntarily.
A 51-year-old neighbor has also been taken into custody after allegedly confessing to sexually abusing the woman, including on the night she died. Only the husband, however, has been directly linked to the sexual act that caused her fatal injuries, authorities emphasized.
Investigators are now examining whether other men may have raped the woman, potentially in exchange for money, prosecutors in Wels disclosed. Austrian prosecutors cautioned that they cannot yet confirm reports of a larger organized operation, though the possibility remains under active investigation.
Austrian media have seized on parallels to the case of Gisèle Pelicot in France, branding the Marchtrenk death “Pelicot 2.0.” Dominique Pelicot, Gisèle’s ex-husband, was convicted of drugging his wife and arranging for dozens of strangers to rape her over nearly a decade in their home, a case that horrified France and drew global attention when it went to trial last year.
The husband in the Austrian case faces investigation for abuse of a defenseless or impaired person resulting in death, a charge carrying a sentence of 10 to 20 years or up to life imprisonment. Prosecutors are also weighing whether to bring murder charges, contingent on what further investigation reveals about the alleged sexual abuse.
The specific charges against the neighbor remain unclear, as authorities have not detailed his legal exposure.