A leading woman boxer has been arrested in Switzerland on suspicion of killing her husband, according to reports on Monday.
Viviane Obenauf, a three-time challenger for world boxing titles, is reportedly being held on suspicion of beating her husband to death with a blunt object. The 34-year-old Ms Obenauf was born in Brazil but is a long-term resident of Switzerland.
Ms Obenauf has been in custody for a month but has only now been identified as the chief suspect in her husband’s death. Suspects are not generally named under Swiss law and prosecutors have refused to comment on her identity, but Switzerland’s Blick newspaper claimed to have confirmed it from three independent sources.
Ms Obenauf married Thomas F, a popular local figure in Interlaken, in January. Despite the 30-year age difference friends described them as a “happy couple”. But Ms Obenauf reportedly moved out of their shared apartment to the nearby village of Oberried three weeks before her husband’s death.
Local residents told Blick police arrived at her home in the village in four unmarked cars on November 9 and questioned her inside for several hours.
She was reportedly remanded in custody for three months on November 12. According to Blick, witnesses saw her taken to the hearing in the nearby town of Thun.
Ms Obenauf was born in Rio de Janeiro and grew up in the Brazilian city of Juiz de Fora. She started boxing in 2004 at the age of 18 and turned professional in 2014. She challenged for the IBO female lightweight title in 2017, the IBF female super featherweight title in 2018, and the IBO female super featherweight title in 2019.
She has a nine-year-old son from a previous relationship.
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Christopher Meatto