Darmstadt (dpa/lhe) – In the process of an attack with a meat cleaver, the accused could testify before the Darmstadt Regional Court this Friday (from 9 a.m.). On the first day of the hearing, the 59-year-old Syrian had confessed to the attack at the Obertshausen train station in the Offenbach district, but denied an intention to kill in a statement read by his defense attorney. He wanted to “take away her beauty” from his wife. The charge is attempted murder.

According to the co-plaintiff, the man tried to chop off the woman’s legs at the end of August 2021. He had almost severed his right lower leg. The then 44-year-old wife, who, like the accused, has Syrian citizenship, separated from the 59-year-old at the end of 2020 and lived in a women’s shelter. The victim was in clinics and in rehab for nine months after the attack and is expected to be questioned via video in the trial because, according to her lawyer, she does not want to be in the courtroom with the accused.