Bar managers investigated over sexual assault of 41 women in Belgium
Belgian authorities are investigating the alleged rape and sexual assault of at least 41 women whose drinks are thought to have been spiked, with three bar managers identified as prime suspects, prosecutors have said.
Officials believe drugs were mixed into the women’s drinks, including ketamine, a general anaesthetic used for recreational purposes because of its hallucinogenic effects.
Investigators say the three main suspects, who run the establishments where the spiking is alleged to have taken place in the north-western city of
Kortrijk, discussed the attacks with one another.
“There are already 41 victims identified for the period between December 2021 to December 2024, and the investigation continues to potentially identify others,” Griet De Prest, a spokesman for the Western Flanders public prosecutor’s office, said on Thursday.
De Prest said one of the main suspects had been arrested.
A second is due to appear in front of a judge on Thursday, while a third was released after a series of arrests on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The men are suspected of rape, sexual assault and illegal administration of harmful substances, the prosecutor’s office said.
“The young women were offered shots of alcohol, often with an amaretto flavour, after which they woke up the next morning, groggy in an unknown bed or in their own bed, with clear evidence of sexual abuse,” Tom Janssens, another spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, told Flemish public television VRT.
Belgium’s interior minister, Bernard Quintin, denounced the alleged attacks as “unacceptable” and criticised how easy it was to get hold of ketamine.
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“If the drug can be obtained easily and cheaply, it becomes easier to commit crimes,” the minister added.
“Women must be able to go out safely, wherever they want, whenever they want,” he said.