A court in Vic has ordered the provisional imprisonment of a woman and a man accused of violently assaulting the owner of a house in Torelló, in the Osona region. The attack took place in the early hours of August 10 on Espadamala Street, leaving the landlord with life-threatening injuries and requiring hospitalization in Barcelona. The suspects initially tried to mislead investigators.
The woman, who rented the upper floor of the two-storey house, called emergency services after the assault. When police and medical teams arrived, they found the glass in the basic door shattered and the landlord, a long-time resident of the Monserrat neighborhood, severely injured. He was first taken to Hospital de Vic, but his condition required an urgent transfer to Vall d’Hebrón in Barcelona.
Both the tenant and a man connected to the property, who lived or had previously lived there, told police that masked intruders had broken in and carried out the assault. Officers from the Vic Investigation Unit noticed contradictions in their statements and found evidence that undermined the robbery scenario. Investigators shifted their focus, and the two witnesses became the basic suspects.
Police detained the 46-year-old man on August 11 and the 50-year-old woman the following day. Both appeared before the court on August 14, which ordered their provisional detention without bail. The charges include attempted murder, simulation of a crime and intentional bodily harm. Investigators believe the motive was the woman’s fear of eviction: the landlord had reportedly expressed his intention to sell the property and move out.
The alleged simulation of a crime has a specific meaning under Spanish law. Article 457 of the Spanish Criminal Code concerns presenting a false criminal event to judicial or administrative authorities when that prompts an investigation. The penalty is a fine calculated over six to twelve months, not an automatic prison sentence. This offense differs from false accusation under Article 456, which concerns falsely identifying a specific person as the perpetrator. The provisional detention ordered in this case is a pre-trial measure, not a conviction. The victim remains in critical condition, and the legal proceedings are ongoing.
