A German mayor who was stabbed 13 times has named her adopted teenage daughter as her attacker, it’s been reported.
Iris Stalzer, the mayor of Herdecke in north west Germany, was airlifted to hospital after a suspected knife attack on Tuesday.
The newly-elected mayor, who was due to take office in November, was reportedly stabbed multiple times in her stomach and back.
Police are yet to confirm a motive for the attack, but security forces told Sueddeutsche Zeitung that detectives are investigating a possible family link.
Now, police sources have told German news site Bild that Iris implicated her 17-year-old adopted daughter in the attack.
Initially her daughter called the police just after midday on Tuesday (October 7) claiming her mother had been attacked by several men outside her home in an attempted robbery.
When the emergency services arrived, they found Iris bleeding in an armchair in the living room.
As well as the 13 stab wounds, doctors found Iris had suffered multiple hematomas and skull fractures.
Officers have since interviewed Iris, who allegedly said she had been tortured by her adopted daughter for hours in their basement.
She claims she was stabbed with two knives, and that her adopted daughter used a can of deodorant and lighter to try and set fire to her hair and clothes.
Iris somehow managed to get from the basement to the living room.
During a search of the house, police found a knife and bloodied clothes belonging to her daughter in her 15-year-old adopted son’s bag.
Forensic investigators also discovered that attempts had been made to clean large blood stains around the armchair in which Iris was found.
Bild reports Iris and her adopted daughter argued earlier this summer, during which concerns about domestic violence and the use of a knife were mentioned.
There had also reportedly been repeated tensions between Iris and her adopted son.
It’s understood the German public prosecutor’s office is treating the attack as grievous bodily harm rather than attempted homicide, after the daughter called the emergency services for help.
Both adopted children are now in the care of the youth welfare office.
Herdecke is a town of about 23,000 people in Germany’s Ruhr region.
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