Austrian police are investigating the suspected killing of a woman in Marchtrenk after allegations emerged that her husband drugged her and allowed other men to sexually abuse her while she was unconscious.
The woman, aged 39 or 40, was found with severe bleeding at the family home in the Upper Austrian town during the night of 25 to 26 June. Her teenage daughter discovered her on a waterbed, while her 51-year-old husband initially described the incident as an accident during rough sex.
Emergency workers were unable to save her. A post-mortem examination found extensive injuries to her genital and abdominal areas, with the Staatsanwaltschaft Wels saying she died from the wounds and blood loss.
Her husband was arrested in July and is being held in pre-trial detention on suspicion of sexually abusing a defenceless person resulting in death. A second man, also aged 51, has since been detained after investigators examined messages found on the husband’s phone.
According to Austrian media reports, the messages indicate that the second suspect had been present at the house on the night of the woman’s death and had allegedly assaulted her on previous occasions. Both men are presumed innocent unless convicted.
Investigators are also examining claims that the woman was repeatedly sedated before being abused. Austrian broadcaster ORF reported that police believe the husband may have drugged her to enable other men to assault her, including during the night she died. ([ooe.orf.at](https://ooe.orf.at/stories/3370399/?utm_source=openai))
The husband is alleged to have searched online for information about sedating someone shortly before his wife’s death. Police also reportedly found that he had disposed of the waterbed and deleted an application from his mobile phone.
Messages allegedly exchanged between the husband and the second suspect contain references to the woman being unconscious and unable to consent. One message reportedly acknowledged that she was “not participating willingly”.
Other reported messages refer to the husband getting her drunk before the second man had sex with her again, while the neighbour allegedly told him to cover her mouth if she screamed. The contents have not been tested in court and the investigation is continuing.
The Austrian authorities have not confirmed all of the more serious claims reported by local newspapers, including that the husband offered his wife to a wider network of men in return for money. The Staatsanwaltschaft Wels has confirmed the involvement of two suspects but said it could not, at this stage, substantiate the existence of a wider rape network or payments. ([vol.at](https://www.vol.at/toedlicher-missbrauch-von-ehefrau-zweiter-mann-in-haft/10452581?utm_source=openai))
Why the Marchtrenk case has been compared with Gisèle Pelicot
The investigation has been compared in Austria with the case of Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, and raped by numerous men in France over several years.
Dominique Pelicot was convicted in December 2024 and sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting that he had drugged his wife and arranged for other men to assault her while she was unconscious. All 50 co-defendants were also convicted of offences connected with the abuse.
Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity and insisted that the trial be held in public. Her decision attracted international attention and prompted renewed debate in France about consent, sexual violence and the treatment of victims.
In the Marchtrenk case, investigators are still working to establish how long the alleged abuse continued, how many people may have been involved and what happened in the final hours before the woman’s death.
