Photos: PA Images
A woman who chopped off her own hand in a foolish insurance scam has been found guilty of fraud in a court in Slovenia.
The crazy plot involved Julija Adlesic, 22, who took out a series of insurance policies about a year before her 'accident'. She then, while conspiring with her boyfriend, used a powerful automatic saw to chop her hand off above the wrist. She was due to receive over $1 million dollars had the insurance company paid out.
Suspicions were first raised when neither the woman nor her boyfriend brought the severed hand to the hospital with them. Thankfully, however, the emergency services were able to retrieve it and sew it back on.
It was then discovered that the boyfriend had made searches online regarding artificial hands in the run up to the incident. It is believed that both her boyfriend and other family members were involved in the scheme.
After being found guilty of fraud, the woman, her boyfriend and her relatives received stiff penalties. Her boyfriend's father was handed down a 1-year suspended sentence, while she was sentenced to 2 years. The boyfriend received 3 years imprisonment.
The woman continued to protest her innocence, saying:
"No one wants to be crippled. My youth has been destroyed. I lost my hand at the age of 20. Only I know how it happened."
The incident is a chilling reminder of how far some people will go to make money and how desperate some people feel about their situation. Some have suggested that she was pressured into the act by the others and that no sane person would have done such a thing without external influence.
The average monthly income in Slovenia is around $1,000.
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