A child named Raúl was found dead in a water point in Ghent, weighted down with stones in a sports bag. According to reports, the victim was an 8-year-old who did not attend school, so no one noticed his disappearance. The alert was raised following an SMS was sent to the victim’s uncle in Germany. Raúl’s 11-year-old sister told investigators that her mother and stepfather beat her brother to death before throwing him into the water. The family is Romanian and worked in a meat factory in West Flanders. The mother has been arrested, while the stepfather is on the run and is still wanted.
His name was Raúl. The police recovered the body of the victim last Thursday, in a water point in Ghent. The body was in a sports bag weighted with stones. The child had been dead for a few months already.
According to our colleagues from 7sur7, the little 8-year-old victim did not attend school. This explains why no one worried regarding his disappearance. It was an SMS sent to the victim’s uncle who lives in Germany which gave the alert.
Raul’s 11-year-old big sister then spoke: she told investigators the journey her mother and stepfather took one evening to the Houtdok waterhole in Ghent. Little Raul was allegedly beaten to death before being thrown into the water.
The family is Romanian. According to Het Nieuwsblad, she was not registered in our country, but the parents would have worked in a meat factory in West Flanders.
On January 31, things would have slipped and the violence was such that Raul would not have survived, relate our Flemish colleagues. Instead of calling for help, her mother and her companion decided to hide the body in a sports bag.
The mother has since been placed under an arrest warrant. She claims that her boyfriend is the main culprit. The stepfather is on the run in Germany. He is still wanted.
This heartbreaking story of little Raúl’s tragic fate serves as a reminder to always report any suspicions of child abuse or neglect. It is devastating to think that no one noticed his absence from school or checked on his wellbeing. Our thoughts go out to his family during this difficult time. May justice be served for little Raúl.
