Local and international media, including the BBC, are reporting on one of the more bizarre and gruesome stories to come of out Slovenia for quite some time – that of a woman who cut off her own hand to claim the insurance. What’s more, the woman did not act alone, as at least one family member helped her remove her the appendage with a circular saw.
In another shocking detail, after the alleged accident, which the family claimed occurred while sawing branches, the woman was taken to UKC Ljubljana hospital without the severed hand, with the aim of making the injury permanent. However, the hand was retrieved by the authorities and re-attached to the as yet unnamed woman.
In addition to having left the hand behind, police suspicions were aroused when it was learned that the family had recently taken out accident insurance, with the incident occurring shortly after the policy became valid. The 21-year old woman was thus in line to receive around €383,400 in compensation, as well as further monthly payments of €3,000, with the potential payments being much higher if the hand had not been re-attached.
The police originally arrested four members of the family, and the 21-year-old woman who lost her hand, and a 29-year-old man who helped in the scheme, now face a prison sentence of one to eight years for fraud.
