A woman who ‘cut off her own hand with a circular saw’ in order to claim money on insurance has been jailed.
Slovenian Julija Adlesic, 22, was sentenced to two years in prison while her boyfriend, who was accused of orchestrating the scam, was jailed for three.
A court in the capital city of Ljubijana heard how Adlesic was accused of staging the incident, together with three others, earlier this year.
The group signed life and injury insurance contracts with five different insurance companies and then agreed to cut off the hand at the wrist.
When she was taken to the hospital, Adlesic claimed to have injured herself while sawing branches.
They were hoping to get around 380,000 euros in compensation and a life-long monthly payout of some 3,000 euros, according to police.
The group intentionally left the hand behind rather than bringing it with them to the hospital, hoping to receive three times higher compensation for permanent disability, police had said.
But authorities managed to pick up the hand in time, and doctors in a hospital in the capital Ljubljana were able to reattach it.
Prosecutors said that days before the incident, Adlesic’s partner searched for information on the internet about how artificial hands work. They claimed that this was another proof that it was done deliberately.
During the trial, the woman claimed innocence, saying she would never have cut off her hand deliberately.
‘No one wants to be crippled,’ she told the court. ‘My youth has been destroyed. I lost my hand at the age of 20. Only I know how it happened.’
The trial has attracted lots of public and media attention in the small Alpine state.
‘We believe the sentences are fair and appropriate, and will serve their purpose,’ judge Marjeta Dvornik said.
The average monthly net income is around 1,000 euros in Slovenia.
