• Sweden edition

Woman nearly drowned in unprovoked assault

Published: 30 May 09 11:10 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19766/20090530/

A 30-year-old woman was attacked and nearly drowned outside the seaside town of Kungsbacka in southern Sweden yesterday. The woman had taken her two small children to a beach near Vallda outside Kungsbacka.

A man standing on a small offshore island suddenly waded across to the beach, where he abruptly assaulted her. Speaking to TT, detective chief inspector Sten Lindbergh of the Halland police said he struck her and then repeatedly held her head under the water. He broke off when a witness some distance away began shouting at him.

The woman, some of whose hair was torn out during the ordeal, was taken to hospital for observation.

“She didn’t know the man at all, and was of course severely shocked,” said Lindbergh. The attack took place at around four o’clock and the man was arrested a few hours later in the same area.

“We have no idea why he assaulted her. We have no indication that he had taken drugs,” added Lindbergh.

The man is being detained on suspicion of attempted manslaughter and of assaulting one of the children. None of the children was physically injured.

Stuart Sheild (news@thelocal.se/08-6566518)

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14:41 May 30, 2009 by peropaco
Anyone wants to take a bet he will get the usual Swedish slap on the wrist sentence? Maybe the judge will use the argument that he was provoked by the woman because she was smiling too much with her kids or something equally absurd?
14:59 May 30, 2009 by eZee.se
Thanks, but I would rather bet on Lotto or Bingo or something like that where i know i have a better chance of winning.

I predict, mental hospital for a while, quick evaluation then he's out on the street again, to be picked up in a few years for doing the same thing to some other poor soul.

Someone from Bizarro world wrote the laws here...
19:20 May 30, 2009 by Tennin
I have a feeling the man will barely get a slap on the wrist. Most likely the woman and her children will have to pay damage fees to this man because he probably broke a nail in the process of hitting them.
21:01 May 30, 2009 by peropaco
@ Tennin. ROFLMAO; or because she was screaming out too loud for help and it caused pain to his eardrums.
10:33 May 31, 2009 by Charlie2
I don't think the length of the punishment is the answer, it is how you treat the prisoner during the time.
10:56 May 31, 2009 by rybo1
Shouldn't the charge be attempted murder instead of attempted manslaughter, oops!, woman slaughter? I agree with the other posts and he probably will be back on the streets soon. Had he committed an economic crime, he'd surely be in deep doo-doo for a very long time.
11:13 May 31, 2009 by Craptastical
What is going on lately with the unprovoked assaults and murders by people who don't know each other at all? It seems to be happening on a daily basis now.
12:29 May 31, 2009 by Miss Kitten
It may seem like it's happening constantly, but incidents of violent crime and murder occur so infrequently here that whenever something does happen, it's always front page news. In Los Angeles (where I come from) there are more murders in one day than the entire country of Sweden has in one year.
14:32 May 31, 2009 by Black Pharoah
Another apathetic White Swedish male.
22:11 May 31, 2009 by insect
The strongest bet would be that she gave him undue stress by making him wade accross the river with unknown currents that could have easily drowned him instead.
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