Jadranka Rebernik

Austria, 2019. A mom of a 3-month-old went for a quick bike ride. A stranger ran her over, broke her hands with a stick and dragged her to his house in the woods. She woke up naked on his bed. He wanted a "date." Every time she said no, he choked her or held her head underwater. Summer 2019, a tiny, quiet town in Austria. She was a competitive cyclist with a 3-month-old son. She only ever went out for an hour, because she was breastfeeding. 5 or 6 kilometers from home, a car clipped her bike. Nothing serious. She thought it was an accident and walked toward the driver. Then he started beating her with a stick. She covered her head. He broke her hands. She woke up in his car with her arms strapped behind her back and something over her mouth. He dragged her into his house, locked her in a wooden storage closet, and she passed out. When she came to, she was naked on a bed and it was getting dark. She could hear a police helicopter. She knew they'd never find her out there. In the video below she describes the "date." He wanted dinner. He wanted wine. Every time she said no, he hit her, strangled her or suffocated her. "I realized I should be doing what he's telling me, otherwise I probably won't survive the evening." Then he told her to get in the bath with him. She refused. He pushed her head under the water. Again and again, for so long she watched her life flash before her eyes. She came up shaking and freezing. He gave her a blanket and walked toward the bed. So she said the only thing she could think of. She mentioned his flowers. And he changed completely. He told her he waters them with aquarium water. He's a gardener. His parents died when he was young. Nobody likes him. He's always alone. Why her? "He didn't plan to kidnap me. He just planned to kidnap some woman. He wanted to have a date with a woman." Then he asked for her phone number. She wrote it down, terrified of getting it wrong in case he called and got angry. His plan: drive her home, she tells police she hit a deer, and tomorrow she calls him and helps him find some friends. On the drive he turned the wrong way, stopped in an empty field in the middle of the night and got out. She was sure he was going to kill her and bury her there. He just wanted to show her his land. He drove her past the police cars searching for her, with their lights on. Then he pulled into her driveway. She jumped out and ran inside. Her skull was fractured. He got 7 years in an institution. In court he said everything was fine, because he brought her back and didn't kill her. A lonely man who couldn't get a date decided to take one off the road. What would you have said to him in that bathroom?