| Title | Biografi - Rasmus Hansen Østen (93) - UK
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| Author | Poul Ludvigsen
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| Text | RASMUS HANSEN ØSTEN - Born 3 May 1817
Written by Poul Ludvigsen
Calgary, Canada, 14 January 2004
This account was taken from a book by Jørgen Nielsen about Gedesby which was later told in Kaj Ludvigsen’s book about our family. It is included here in a condensed version, partly because of the family connection (although it is not very flattering), but also because it gives an interesting picture of the judicial system and language of the past.
In 1849, an uncle to my grandmother, Karen Margrethe Carstensen (born in 1856), was condemned to death for raping a 12 year old girl. His name was Rasmus Hansen Østen, and the case undoubtedly created quite a stir in the southern part of the island of Falster where it took place, since the compete accounts of the court cases were reported in the area’s newspapers. The actual reports (which are too long to relate here) make for interesting reading and include many intimate details about the event. On one occasion, the girl was asked a question which included a Latin phrase, perhaps because the Danish words would have sounded too unpleasant, but, said the judge, she did not have to answer because she could not understand the meaning anyway.
After two trials, Rasmus was sentenced to eight years hard labour, but the highest court decreed that, “Rasmus Hansen Østen should forfeit his life.”
In reality, he was neither hanged nor decapitated, because a later pronouncement from the Justice Ministry declared, “Whereas the accused presumably committed the crime under the influence of liquor and in an agitated state, and because it was assumed that the offended girl had not suffered permanent damage which would affect neither her future nor her health, the sentence was reduced to life at hard labour, although the convicted person will be allowed to apply for clemency after eight years.”
On 2 July 1857, Rasmus Hansen Østen’s wife applied directly to the king for this clemency:
“To the King (Frederik VII): Since my poor husband Rasmus Hansen Østen of Gjeddeskov, Gjedesby parish, has, at the end of this current year been imprisoned for eight long years, to atone for his sin, when in a demented rage, he committed a crime/violation against a half-grown girl, while I, in my lonely and destitute state, has been striving hard to bring up our two children, the older of whom has just been confirmed, I have had multiple, unequivocal proofs that he sincerely has regretted his actions and I am fully assured that when he is released, he will strive, as far as possible, to repay with good the evil he has done, and especially to assist me and our children, in an honest way, through these difficult times, when it has been almost impossible to earn our daily bread, so I request hereby most humbly, as a dutiful subject with childlike faith in His Majesty as the father of the nation, and with humble prayer, that you most graciously, now that he has suffered the eight years’ imprisonment to which the court sentenced him, finally will show mercy and allow my poor husband to return as my spouse and our children’s breadwinner, so we can give him all the good we have not been able to, in his old age.
Gjeddesskov, 2 July 1857. Your most obedient servant, Grethe Jensdatter, wife of Rasmus Hansen Østen, farmer.”
Later the following was made public: “Whereas the plaintiff has requested that the parish council approve the humble petition, we unanimously find that it can granted without danger to the common population, because of the knowledge we have of the said Rasmus Hansen’s character, as well as of the crime which he committed, namely the already endured punishment which must be presumed to have proven effective in discouraging like crimes since none have been committed in this community, while acknowledging that it would be of particular help to said Grethe Jensdatter and her children to have their breadwinner home again. The Parish Council for Skelby and Gjedesby, 2 July 1857.”
The recommendation was approved by the king 12 January 1858 and Rasmus Hansen Østen received a conditional release.
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