SOUGHT“I want to tell my story so I can put it behind me. I don’t want to have that burden on my shoulders anymore and have to deal with it every day.” That’s what Lotte (21), a pseudonym, courageously tells FAROEK. On the night of October 7 to 8 last year, she was raped by two men in Bruges: a true nightmare.
Nancy Nuttin, Ellen Nagtegals
Faroek Özgünes, together with the police and the judiciary, searches for perpetrators of crimes, witnesses and missing persons, and asks for the help of readers and viewers. Follow all his investigation reports closely through our file.
The drama takes place on the night of Friday 7 to Saturday 8 October last year. “That evening I went to a meeting of the youth movement,” says Lotte. Around midnight she leaves for home by bike. “It’s only a five-minute bike ride, but that night it took a little longer…”
At the bus stop of the De Koude Keuken sports complex in Zandstraat in Bruges, she is stopped by a man standing in the middle of the cycle path. He is dressed entirely in black and has a cap with a hood over it. “Miss, I have an important question,” he says in West Flemish. Just then a second man appears from behind the bus stop. They grab Lotte and take her to a petanque field a few meters away. Lotte defends herself and screams, but in vain. The two men each take turns raping her. “I used to think: ‘That will never happen to me. Until it happens,’” Lotte says quietly.
“Leave, you retarded bitch”
“A real nightmare. Being raped twice is something we really don’t see very often,” says Lien Depoorter of the Bruges police. Lotte lies motionless for hours on the petanque field, paralyzed with fear. She only regains consciousness around 4 am. “Very bizarre, but the second man is still next to her,” says Depoorter. Lotte asks him if she can please leave. “Leave, you retarded bitch,” he shouts. She jumps on her bike and rides home. On the way she meets her mother who is panicking looking for her.
After the facts, Lotte is having a particularly difficult time. She no longer dares to pass by that place and is afraid to come out in the dark. To deal with the trauma, she goes to therapy. “It was very hard and it was all too much for me,” she says. It is important for Lotte’s recovery process that the perpetrators are caught quickly. “I’m afraid to meet them again. I also don’t want it to happen to anyone else: not to one of my friends or another girl.”
DNA
A robot photo was taken of the first suspect who blocked the cycle path. He has dark hair, was dressed in black and had a cap with a hood over it. The second suspect was also in black, but wore light shoes. The victim can remember the smell of that second man very well. He was wearing ‘Invictus’, a perfume from the Paco Rabanne brand. The research also produced useful DNA traces. “That means we have something to compare it to when we arrive at a possible suspect. The puzzle can be put together,” says Depoorter.
The police are appealing to anyone who has more information about the case to come forward. “It could be that the suspects talked about it in a café, or confided in someone,” Depoorter adds. You can contact the police free of charge on 0800 30 300 or via zoeken@police.belgium.eu.
This investigation report was created following a collaboration between the Federal Police, the Public Prosecution Service and DPG Media.
LOOK. Lotte testifies about how she was raped by two men while she was on her way home by bike.
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