A group of teenage boys has been arrested in connection to the alleged gang rape and blackmailing of a female Austrian school teacher.
The teacher, 29, was allegedly raped by three young men ‘for several hours’ on two separate dates last year, prosecutors told local newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
The alleged victim is understood to have entered into an ‘intimate relationship’ with one of the accused, aged 17, roughly one year ago.
She fell pregnant by the teen, who was her former student, and claims he pressured her into having an abortion, the prosecution claimed.
Recordings were allegedly made of the pair’s sexual encounters, which the teacher claims were used by the youths to blackmail her into buying and using drugs, the newspaper reports.
The woman was then allegedly gang-raped by members of the group. Her Vienna apartment was also set on fire, according to reports.
A total of seven young men, ages 14 to 17, are being investigated on suspicion of rape, extortion, and arson. Five of them are currently in custody.
The teens vehemently deny the rape allegations.
A group of teenage boys are being investigated in connection to the alleged gang rape of a 29-year-old female Austrian school teacher A total of seven young men, ages 14 to 17, are being investigated on suspicion of rape, extortion, and arson. The teens vehemently deny the rape allegations (File photo of the Landesgericht fuer Strafsachen Wien courthouse in Vienna)
The teacher kept quiet about the alleged assault for almost a year because she felt ashamed and feared losing her teaching job, the newspaper reports.
The teens have largely exercised their right to remain silent during interrogation or legal proceedings.
Prosecutors say one teen admitted to the drugs deals, but denied having knowledge of any other wrongdoing.
Another claimed the sexual intercourse was ‘voluntary’ and confessed to photographing the alleged victim’s ATM, the newspaper reports.
Officials say the suspects include an Iraqi, a Romanian and two Afghani nationals, as well as two Austrian teens.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) issued a dire response to the alleged assault, suggesting that Vienna has become a hotspot for asylum seekers and an unsafe place for women.
‘Vienna is increasingly becoming a no-go zone for women due to such imported violence,’ the party said in a statement to Heute.
‘We finally need tough consequences: deportation of criminal foreigners and an end to the asylum madness! The FPÖ demands a full investigation, maximum penalties for the perpetrators, and finally safety for our citizens!’
