In a disturbing case that has sparked outrage across Belgium, a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by ten of her boyfriend's friends in a forest. According to the Brussels Times, all the ten accused are believed to be minors, aged between 11 and 16. As per prosecutors, the girl was abused by the minors on up to three occasions between April 2 and April 6 over the Easter holidays.
The girl, who has not been named for privacy reasons, was allegedly lured into a wooded area called Kabouterbos in Kortrijk, West Flanders (five miles from the French border), by her teenage boyfriend over the Easter school break. She was sexually abused by his friends, with some sources stating she was kept there for two days. The group also filmed the attack on their smartphones and posted clips to social media.
The group members took turns abusing the victim, and all participated ''to a greater or lesser extent,'' Belgian outlet Nieuwsblad said in its report.
The outlet further reported that the suspects were ''believed to be young people of immigrant origin''. While six of the suspects have been placed in a closed institution, the other four are placed under house arrest.
Tom Janssens of the West Flemish public prosecutor's office told VRT News, "The youngest suspect is 11 years old. As the suspects are so young, we are not releasing much information. However, they have all been identified and arrested and measures have been taken by the juvenile court. Our attention is now going first and foremost to the victim. She is receiving counselling."
The victim, meanwhile, is receiving specialist guidance and counselling following her ordeal.
An ongoing investigation into the case will now work to establish to what extent each suspect was involved in the assault on the 14-year-old girl, or if any were bystanders.
The case in Belgium comes three years after another, similarly horrific incident shocked the country when a 14-year-old girl was raped by a group of young men in a cemetery in Ghent, in East Flanders.
