Five face trial over newborn’s death at Nickelsdorf

A jury trial opened at Eisenstadt Regional Court on Wednesday for a 17-year-old woman and four relatives accused in the death of her newborn daughter, whose body was found at the Nickelsdorf border crossing in January, ORF reports.

Travelers found the baby on 18 January. An autopsy found that the girl had been born alive and died from a traumatic brain injury caused by external force.

The teenager is accused of killing the child during birth. The indictment alleges she strangled the baby and inflicted blunt force to her skull. She faces up to two and a half years in prison.

Her mother, sister, brother and brother-in-law are charged with participating in murder. Prosecutors allege they helped and shielded her and removed evidence. They face prison terms of 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment.

According to the indictment, all five were travelling together in a minibus when the teenager got out at the border crossing and left the baby in a carrier bag. They have been in pretrial detention in Eisenstadt since February. The trial is scheduled to continue on Thursday.