A 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped in a cemetery killed herself after images of the assault were shared online. Five teenagers, identified from the images, have been arrested over the alleged gang rape.
The teen girl was attacked at the Westerbegraafplaats cemetery in Ghent, Belgium. According to Belgian media reports, the girl had arranged to meet a male 'friend' at the cemetery on May 15.
However, her 'friend' arrived with the four other teens and allegedly gang-raped her. The perpetrators also uploaded and shared the images of the attack on social media.
The teen victim killed herself four days later. Her parents came to know about the assault only after their daughter’s death.
One of the girl's friends, who she had confided in, told them about the attack that happened a few days ago.
Her heartbroken father said that his daughter had been "struggling for some time".
"She needed help and unfortunately it took far too long for her to get it," he told Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
"She had such a hard time and these facts and images were the last straw for her. A 14-year-old girl can't go through something like this."
"She saw her whole world fall apart. Without these people, she would have been there. All I can hope for now is justice," the father added.
Belgium Justice Minister Vincent van Quikernborn pledged on Twitter that the perpetrators responsible for the girl’s dreadful ordeal would be punished including those who shared images of sexual assault.
"Hateful, there are no words to describe it. My thoughts are with the family and friends," he said.
The incident sparked outrage from the Belgian government and all five suspects were identified and arrested within no time. Three of the suspects were minors reportedly aged 14 and 15 and the other two were adults aged 18 and 19.
Two of the minors are brothers, and some of the suspects had a criminal history and were already known to police, local media reported. All of them are from Ghent.
They have been arrested on suspicion of rape, indecent assault, and the taking and dissemination of photographs likely to constitute an attack on the integrity of a person.
The minors are placed in a youth facility, while the two men have been arrested and will make a court appearance on Wednesday.
"Three minors were placed in a closed institution by the juvenile judge in Ghent and two adults (both 18 years old) were arrested by the investigating judge in Ghent for offenses that would have occurred shortly before the death of the victim," a spokesperson for the prosecutor said, Daily Mail reported.
"The council chamber in Ghent decided today that the detention of the two adults will be extended by one month," the spokesperson added.
The assault "is unfortunately not an isolated case", Liesbet Stevens, an expert in gender equality, told VRT News. According to the expert, around 200 gang rapes are reported in Belgium every year.
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