UPDATEA two-year-old girl from Meeffe, a sub-municipality of Wasseiges in the province of Liège, died on Wednesday. The girl was allegedly beaten by her stepfather in the hospital the day before. The Liège public prosecutor’s office informs Belga that it will not communicate about the case.
Emergency services were called to the little girl on Tuesday afternoon. She was in a “worrying health condition” and required “urgent care.” According to the French-language newspaper L’Avenir, the child’s stepfather allegedly administered blows on Tuesday in the family home in Meeffe, in the northwest of Liège near the border with the province of Namur.
The girl was rushed – by medical helicopter – to the hospital in Liège, but all help came too late. She died from her injuries on Wednesday evening. The public prosecutor’s office is currently looking for the stepfather, but does not yet want to confirm that he is a suspect in the investigation. An autopsy would take place in the coming days.
There is disbelief in the neighborhood. No one expected such a tragedy. “They had only just moved there and they did not come out often,” a local resident testifies about the family to colleagues at ‘L’Avenir. However, the local authorities remain discreet. “I know that a judicial investigation is underway. I prefer the police and to let the court do their work. I do not know the family personally,” Mayor of Wasseiges Thomas Courtois told Belga.
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