At least seven women drugged and raped in Kortrijk: “Pay attention to each other”
At least seven women drugged and raped in Kortrijk: “Pay attention to each other”
In the entertainment district in Kortrijk, at least seven young women have already been drugged in the same way and then raped. This was reported by the spokesman for the West Flanders public prosecutor's office, Tom Janssens. He adds that the prosecutor's office is certain there are more victims.“The young women are treated to a shot while going out,” says Janssens. “The next day they wake up in their own bed or someone else's bed or a hotel room and it turns out they have been sexually abused. The girls are often too ashamed to file a complaint, because they often cannot remember much. The hair samples showed that the seven victims were anesthetized with ketamine.”
Ketamine is a narcotic drug that has legitimate medical uses, such as anesthesia or pain management, but the drug can be 'abused' recreationally.
“My client woke up in the morning after a night out, but she had a total blackout,” says the lawyer of one of the victims in Nieuwsblad . “She noticed that she had been abused. Luckily she had the presence of mind to go to the doctor for a smear test. A DNA trace has been found. I have no insight into whether there is a match or not.”
“Not an organized gang”
The public prosecutor's office does not assume there is an organized gang. “It is the first time that we have encountered the phenomenon of spiking (administering drugs or medication unnoticed in a drink, ed.) on such a large scale,” says Janssens.
Detectives from the Vlas police zone were instructed by the investigating judge at the end of October to carry out a series of searches in the nightlife area of Kortrijk. Four people were arrested, the public prosecutor's office spokesperson said. One of them was released immediately, two others are released under conditions. The two are no longer allowed to appear in Burgemeester Reynaertstraat, a popular entertainment district in Kortrijk.
“I cannot say whether the four suspects who were arrested last month have made confessions, in the interest of the investigation,” Janssens says. “But it is clear that this is a serious case.”
The Kortrijk public prosecutor's office is investigating, he adds. “There will still be perpetrators,” says Janssens. “I would like to appeal to look out for each other when going out. Don't leave a friend alone in a café. Go home together. And file a complaint if something happens to you. There are things happening that we haven't seen yet here. We have to be vigilant.” The public prosecutor's office calls on all victims to come forward. “All new information can count,” says Janssens.