A 34-year-old vulnerable woman was held as a slave, forced to work and repeatedly abused before dying from extreme neglect, prosecutors say.

A Hungarian couple convicted of abusing and starving a vulnerable 34-year-old woman to death could face significantly harsher sentences after prosecutors appealed the first-instance verdict.

The couple, who were convicted of causing death by bodily harm, human trafficking and forced labour, were sentenced by the Nyíregyháza Regional Court to 14 and 10 years in prison respectively.

The Debrecen Appellate Chief Prosecutor’s Office has now called for the sentences to be increased and for the case to be reclassified as murder committed with particular cruelty. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for the male defendant and a substantially longer sentence for his wife.

Woman promised accommodation and care

According to the prosecution, the couple took the 34-year-old woman into their home in the summer of 2023. The woman was in a vulnerable situation and had reportedly been promised accommodation and care in exchange for helping with household chores.

Instead, prosecutors say, the couple kept her locked inside, forced her to work and provided her with very little food. She was also allegedly subjected to regular physical abuse, including being beaten by hand and with a rolling pin and repeatedly attacked with a stun device.

The prolonged abuse and starvation left the woman severely weakened and emaciated. On the morning of 28 April 2024, she reportedly failed to get up and was no longer communicating.

Couple failed to seek medical help

Rather than calling for medical assistance, the couple allegedly decided to transport the woman towards Budapest. According to the prosecution, their son and his partner helped place the woman in a car before the journey began.

During the trip, the couple realised that she had died. They subsequently left the motorway and allegedly abandoned her body, together with her identity card and bank card, in the car park of an apartment building.

The woman’s body was later discovered by children who happened to be passing by.

First-instance court handed down prison sentences

The Nyíregyháza Regional Court found both defendants guilty of causing death by bodily harm, human trafficking and forced labour. The man was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while his wife received a 10-year prison sentence.

Both the defendants and their lawyers appealed against the ruling. They are seeking an acquittal as their primary request, or alternatively a different legal classification and a reduction in their sentences. The prosecution, meanwhile, is seeking significantly harsher punishment.

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Prosecutors seek life imprisonment

The Debrecen Appellate Chief Prosecutor’s Office argues that the defendants, who had previous criminal records, subjected the woman to such prolonged and severe abuse and starvation that they must have understood that their actions could result in her death. Prosecutors therefore consider the circumstances to constitute particular cruelty.

They have asked the appeals court to convict the male defendant of murder committed with particular cruelty and sentence him to life imprisonment. They are also seeking a substantially longer sentence for his wife.

The case will now be decided by the Debrecen Court of Appeal.