Six months after the drowning of a six-year-old in Austria, his father is suspected of murder. "Several pieces of evidence have now come together to form a picture that corroborates the urgent suspicion," said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Innsbruck on Wednesday. The 38-year-old father does not confess and sticks to his portrayal. The court now has until Thursday evening to decide whether to impose pre-trial detention.

The six-year-old was found dead in the Kitzbüheler Ache in St. Johann in Tirol at the end of August last year. According to the previous version, the father of the mentally handicapped child was hit by a stranger with a bottle while walking and robbed him while he was unconscious. Then the child is said to have gotten out of the stroller and fallen into the river. The case caused a stir in Austria and beyond.

According to information from the APA news agency, the father is said to have carried the bottle with which he was allegedly knocked down in the stroller. The injuries could not be reconciled with the crime either. The spokesman for the public prosecutor's office did not want to comment on these and other indications.

His defense attorney could not understand the arrest of his client. "The police apparently accuse him of wanting to cure his son of his illness. My client is shocked by this accusation and vehemently denies it," said the lawyer to the "Tiroler Tageszeitung".