A German court has handed down a 13-year prison sentence to a 30-year-old man who injected mercury into his one-year-old daughter’s foot, reports AP News. The man’s girlfriend, who participated in the crime, received a 12-year prison sentence.
The motive was to get revenge against the child’s mother, who had left him shortly after their daughter’s birth, reports reveal. The father and his girlfriend were aware that the poison would not result in immediate death but aimed to cause severe pain to the toddler, according to the indictment.
Following the injection, the daughter developed a severe infection in her foot and experienced a rash across her body. The presence of mercury in her system was discovered accidentally during a third surgery related to the poisoning, DPA reported.
Initially, both the father and his 34-year-old girlfriend denied the charges in court. However, shortly before the trial concluded, the couple confessed to injecting the mercury into the girl’s left foot and right ankle in July of the previous year. The source of the liquid mercury used in the crime remains unclear.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
