Urovci near Obrenovac: man (51) dies after axe attack

Berisa A., 51, died on September 15 in the hospital, seven days after he was attacked in the yard of a family home in the village of Urovci near Obrenovac. His death changes the legal course of the case: the offense is being reclassified, and the investigation is moving from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Obrenovac to the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade.

The attack happened on September 9. It was triggered by a family dispute. The day before, a woman had left her husband and taken refuge with relatives in Urovci. The following day, a column of nine vehicles carrying more than 30 men arrived outside that house.

What happened in the yard

According to police accounts, some of the attackers were carrying wooden clubs, batons and an axe. During the clash, Berisa A. was struck in the head with the axe and collapsed to the ground.

While he lay unconscious, a gray Audi A6 drove over his body. Five people in total were injured in the clash and taken to the hospital. Berisa A. died of his injuries after a seven-day fight by doctors to save his life.

The Obrenovac police station processed more than 30 participants after the clash. The criminal investigation covered every man present in the column of vehicles that arrived in Urovci that day.

Who was driving the Audi?

None of the questioned suspects has said who was behind the wheel of the Audi A6 that ran over the victim. That detail remains a key gap in the investigation, despite the fact that more than 30 people involved in the clash have already been processed.

Until Berisa A.’s death, the case was being handled by the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Obrenovac, which was gathering evidence and trying to establish the role of each person in the nine-vehicle column.

The fatal outcome changes jurisdiction. Following the victim’s death, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade was notified and now takes over the investigation. A case moving to a higher prosecutor’s office is the usual consequence when an injury from a criminal act results in the victim’s death, since that also changes the legal classification of the offense.

Seven days in the hospital

After the September 9 attack, Berisa A. was taken for treatment and spent seven days in the hospital. No source indicates that he regained consciousness during that time or gave a statement to investigators.

Three of the four media outlets tracked report that, even after his death, it remains unknown which of the participants in the clash was driving the vehicle that ran him over. The fact that the Audi A6 driver has not been identified has stayed unchanged from the first days of the investigation through September 15, when Berisa A. died.

The village of Urovci lies in the Obrenovac municipality. According to details from the investigation, the September 9 clash broke out after the husband came to collect his wife, who had taken refuge with relatives the day before. The conversation outside the house reportedly lasted only briefly before it turned into a physical confrontation between the new arrivals and the household.

All five injured people were treated at the Emergency Center, while Berisa A. suffered the most severe injuries from the axe blow and the vehicle. The other injuries from the clash have not been described in further detail in statements released so far.

The case now formally falls under the jurisdiction of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which will decide on the next steps in the investigation, including the effort to identify the Audi A6 driver. Until then, the more than 30 processed individuals remain suspects, with no indictment filed based on information published so far.