Fact Check: Viral Video Showing A Mother Shooting Her Daughter’s Killer In A German Court Is Actually A Film Clip

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A video circulating on social media shows a woman firing a gun inside a courtroom, with claims that this video dates back to 1981, when the mother of a 7-year-old girl shot the accused during his trial of rape and murder in Germany.

Vishvas News investigated and found that the claim accompanying the viral video is misleading. While it is true that such an incident occurred in Germany, the viral clip is from a movie scene based on the actual incident.

What is going viral?

Threads user ‘bhimgiri.358’ shared the viral video, captioning it, “This incident occurred on March 6, 1981, in a court in Lübeck, Germany. Marianne Bachmeier shot Klaus Grabowski, the accused in the murder of her 7-year-old daughter Anna (who was raped and strangled to death in 1980), six times in the courtroom on the third day of the trial, killing him.”

You can see the archived link of the post here.

Investigation

To verify the viral claim, we searched key frames of the video using Google Lens. This led us to the viral video uploaded on several Facebook and Instagram reels, claiming it to be a clip from the German film, ‘Der Fall Bachmeier – Keine Zeit für Tränen’ (The Bachmeier Case – No Time for Tears).

We searched for the entire film on YouTube using relevant keywords and found the viral clip at the 1:19:30 timestamp in the movie.

We also spoke to senior entertainment journalist Smita Srivastava, who clarified, “The viral video clip of Marianne Bachmeier shooting her daughter’s alleged rapist and murderer in court is a scene from the 1984 German film ‘Der Fall Bachmeier – Keine Zeit für Tränen’ (No Time for Tears: The Bachmeier Case). The film is based on the true story of Marianne Bachmeier. Austrian actress Marie Kolbin played that role. 

According to reports, “Marianne Bachmeier, a resident of West Germany, shot and killed Klaus Grabowski during a court hearing on March 6, 1981. He was accused of raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl. The man was sentenced to six years in prison for murder, but was released on bail after three years.”

A search for information on this case led us to several articles, which can be read here and here.

For further verification, we spoke with entertainment journalist Smita Srivastava, who confirmed, “The viral video clip of Marianne Bachmeier shooting her daughter’s alleged rapist and murderer in court is a scene from the 1984 German film ‘Der Fall Bachmeier – Keine Zeit für Tränen’ (No Time For Tears: The Bachmeier Case). The film was based on the true story of Marianne Bachmeier. The woman’s character was played by Austrian actress Marie Kolbin.”

Reports confirm that the film is based on the true story of Marianne Bachmeier, a resident of West Germany, who shot and killed Klaus Grabowski on March 6, 1981, during a court hearing. Grabowski was accused of raping and murdering her 7-year-old daughter. Bachmeier was sentenced to six years in prison for the murder, but was released on bail after three years.

The Threads user ‘bhimgiri.358’, who shared the video with the false claim, has over 2000 followers.

Disclaimer: A correction has been made in the copy where the victim party was inadvertently referred to as the accused while quoting a news report. The error has now been rectified. This correction does not alter the facts, findings, or the overall conclusion of the investigation presented in the story.

Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated and found that the claim accompanying the viral video is misleading. The incident of the mother shooting the murderer in court did indeed occur in Germany, but the viral clip is not footage of the actual incident, but a scene from a 1984 German film based on the true incident.

Tags

• German Court
• Mother Daughter
• Mother shoots Daughter's Killer