Writer raped by ex-husband for 16 years: justice scandal erupts
Claudia Wuttke, 59, learned from police that she was sedated and raped by her ex-husband for 16 years, who filmed the assaults. The case raises questions about the statute of limitations in Germany.
Writer raped by ex-husband for 16 years: justice scandal erupts
In June 2025, police officers in Lüneburg, northern Germany, summoned Claudia Wuttke for identification purposes. The 59-year-old crime writer, who writes under the pseudonym Sia Piontek, then experienced the shock of her life: the investigators showed her footage in which she herself appeared – unconscious whilst suffering sexual violence. "That woman was me," she told the news agency AFP.
Claudia Wuttke's former husband had recorded sixty-seven videos of rapes committed over a period of sixteen years – during their marriage and even after separation, when they remained in contact. The abuse included oral, vaginal and anal penetration, sometimes with objects, and once with a baseball bat. The victim, who has no memory of any of it, suspects she was drugged with sedatives.
Throughout all this time, she had never suspected her husband. She simply thought that "something was wrong with her". It was only at the police summons that she understood what had been done to her body and soul all those years.
The shock was followed by a second one: the prosecution discontinued sixty-five of the sixty-seven charges due to the statute of limitations. In Germany, the statute of limitations for rape without aggravating circumstances is five years. Since the sedation could not be proven, initially only two offences were prosecutable: one rape, which probably dates from 2021, and the one involving the baseball bat.
Claudia Wuttke lodged a complaint against this decision. The investigation was eventually resumed for all the offences. The trial scheduled for 15 June 2026 was postponed until investigators reach conclusions on the sixty-five discontinued cases.
This case, uncovered by the magazine Der Spiegel, is reminiscent of that of Gisèle Pelicot in France. It sheds light on a 2016 reform, which under Chancellor Angela Merkel introduced tougher laws against sexual offences, but at the same time shortened the statute of limitations in certain cases. The victim feels "abandoned by the rule of law," "terribly alone," and "powerless."
The information was reported by La Dépêche du Midi.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)