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Defendant Bekim H.
Photo: Olaf Wagner / imago images
It is the nightmare of a relationship that the witness portrays for almost two hours.
She speaks of rape.
About invading her while she was sleeping.
She speaks of his hands around her neck, of bondage games that were no longer games.
About her child who barricaded himself in his room and screamed.
She speaks of his suicide attempts, alcohol and drug use.
And that he cheated on her for years.
Then she says of Bekim H: "Actually he's a very, very nice boy."
Since January, Bekim H. has had to answer for attempted rape and murder before the 32nd Large Criminal Chamber of the Berlin Regional Court.
He is said to have strangled a 15-year-old girl on the night of August 5, 2020.
The defendant led the police to the body.
The act might not have happened if an expert had not given H. a favorable prognosis - and H. had been released from forensic psychiatry.
And H. probably would not have remained free if the authorities had known what Antje S. knew about him.
The witness who testifies in court this Thursday is the defendant's former partner.
They were a couple for about six years.
Their son was two years old when they met.
It is hard to imagine that Antje S. doesn't mind seeing Bekim H. again in court.
It cannot be seen from her.
She looks composed and confident.
The 32-year-old is not inclined to rambling narratives.
She only talks about feelings when the appraiser asks her about them.
She hardly knows anything about his childhood
Antje S. and Bekim H. seem to have had little conversation with each other.
She hardly knows anything about his childhood.
"I know that he came to the home at some point." She hears for the first time that he has a sister in court.
She cannot say what he imagined for his life.
He didn't have a job.
She doesn't know what plans he had.
They became a couple in 2012 when he was still in a penal institution.
In 2001 he brutally abused and raped a 68-year-old woman.
According to the conviction of the criminal chamber at the time, his criminal liability was suspended at the time of the offense, the judges ordered Bekim H's placement in the forensic psychiatry.
“I knew that he had been in the Karl Bonhoeffer Clinic for 13 years,” says Antje S. “I knew that he had used alcohol and drugs.
He also told me that he raped someone.
I knew he was borderline. ”He explained to her:“ These are people who hurt themselves when things get too much in their heads. ”She knew he was scratching himself with razor blades.
They remained a couple when Bekim H. moved into an assisted living community.
"It was thought that he was on the mend again," she says.
Bekim H. was still not allowed to consume alcohol or drugs.
Tried therapists for years
He had to have his urine checked regularly in a forensic therapeutic ambulance.
Antje S. reports that he tricked the employees there for years.
He did not give his urine, but that of her son.
"He used my child to have nothing to prove to him." He was long since drinking and drug use again.
Antje S. says she reported Hs maneuvers to a doctor in the ambulance.
"She was pretty shocked," she says.
If it is true that Antje S. betrayed her boyfriend at the time, then that obviously had no consequences for Bekim H.
In 2017, the head of the outpatient department considered that a further forensic follow-up for Bekim H. was no longer necessary due to his allegedly low risk of relapse.
Since 2013, there has been no evidence of serious alcohol or drug consumption in the course of the treatment of Bekim H.
The letter to the Penal Enforcement Chamber says nothing about the fact that he should not have given his urine but that of a child.
He got more and more brutal
The reality was obviously different.
Antje S. says that Bekim H. has become more and more brutal.
Especially when he was drinking or using drugs, he became aggressive.
In 2016 he tried to kill himself in her apartment.
He drank turpentine and collapsed.
"He's often stood in front of me with a knife and said I should stab."
Psychiatrist Dagny Luther takes care of the questions.
She goes into more detail about the couple's intimate life.
In the first year, sex with Bekim H. was still pleasant, says Antje S. Then he started with the "bondage games".
At first that was also "amicable".
“At some point I said that I didn't want it, that it hurt me,” said the witness.
“At some point I said I couldn't breathe.
But he thought it was really cool. ”He was excited when she gasped.
"He thought it was nice."
"Were you scared?" Asks the psychiatrist.
"Yes, yes," says Antje S.
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