A 48-year-old woman not only accused her ex-husband of raping her; he is also said to have assaulted his biological daughter. The Zurich District Court has ruled.
A Colombian woman has to defend herself against accusations of false accusation before the district court in Zurich.
Again and again we hear that women should deliberately falsely accuse their partners or ex-partners of rape in order to gain advantages in separation, custody or residence law proceedings.
A 48-year-old Colombian woman now has to defend herself against this accusation before the Zurich District Court. She is charged with the false accusation. The prosecutor wants a conditional prison sentence of 10 months.
Her 67-year-old ex-husband has been living with suspicion for four and a half years that he not only raped his ex-wife but also his adult daughter from his first marriage. In March 2018, the Colombian, who had been married to the private prosecutor since April 2017, filed criminal charges with the Zurich city police. Her husband at the time was picked up and was detained for two days.
However, the criminal investigation into rape against the 67-year-old, who originally also comes from South America, was finally terminated in March 2019. It was statement against statement. The termination took place – according to the termination order – because the statements of the woman “were not to be assessed as more plausible than the statements of the man” and the man “actual behavior could not be sufficiently proven against the accusation”.
The husband’s lawyer filed a criminal complaint for false allegations in April 2020. The part relating to the Colombian’s statements regarding her own alleged rape was also closed in March 2022. As can be seen from this dismissal order, no indication of criminal behavior on the part of the woman can be derived from the fact that the rape criminal proceedings against the man had been discontinued. The marriage was divorced in July 2020.
daughter as a witness in court
In contrast, the alleged false accusation regarding the rape of one’s own daughter made it to a single judge in Zurich. The accused Colombian explained in court that she never said anything like this had happened; she only said that she had heard something like that. She says that in February 2018 she was invited to the adult daughter, who is almost the same age as her. The daughter then told her that she had been raped by her own father.
Three other people were present at this conversation: the husband of the daughter, her brother and his wife. They would have heard it too. The Colombian also claims in the survey that the ex-husband paid her only part of the specified maintenance payments from the divorce proceedings.
The 46-year-old daughter, who is Swiss, is being questioned in the courtroom as a witness. She claims she never said anything like that, that she was never raped by her father and never had sexual intercourse with him. She also laughs once or twice, as if to underline the ridiculousness of the allegations. She had always had a good relationship with the Colombian before, “I don’t understand why she said that”. All the other people allegedly present during the conversation also stated in the criminal investigation that they had never heard anything like it.
The ex-husband’s lawyer explains in his pleading that the Colombian woman only made the allegations of rape with a view to obtaining a residence permit. “The allegations are fictitious.” She knew full well that her allegations would lead to her husband’s imprisonment.
His personal rights had been severely violated and he has had to live with this damage to his reputation ever since. It is also exemplary that she lied about the maintenance payments after the divorce. The ex-husband paid all his obligations. Receipts would prove that.
The marital crisis began when the Colombian brought a son from a previous marriage from South America without discussing it with the husband. She had only entered into a sham marriage with the private prosecutor in order to obtain the right of residence in Switzerland. She had already planned the separation earlier. The lawyer requested compensation of 6,000 francs for the ex-husband.
Did the accused tell nonsense?
The defense pleads for an acquittal and for the rejection of the demand for compensation. It cannot be clarified beyond doubt whether the daughter made these statements. There are two possibilities, either she wanted to confide in the Colombian with a true story, or she made false statements herself out of anger at her father. In any case, the Colombian could not be proven to have intentionally made a false statement.
This is exactly the opinion of the Zurich judge and he acquitted the accused. False accusation is a willful crime, “it must be absolutely clear that something is wrong”. The statements of the witnesses would not bring much. They are all close family members of the father. “We are not convinced that the accused is telling complete nonsense,” says the judge.
The ex-husband’s lawyer filed an appeal against the acquittal in the courtroom.
Judgment GG220098 of October 3, 2022, not yet final.