2023-09-19 04:45:00
“It is certain that from now on, I will be wary when I take the metro.” The attack suffered by André, assumed name, a 70-year-old from Brussels, will undoubtedly leave its mark.
The facts date back to August. “I went to the doctor around 10 a.m. The metro was crowded and two individuals stood behind my wife and me. They were smiling and clean, they were joking. When we wanted to get out, the train door got stuck and we went to the next one. The door then closed on one of the two individuals and myself, we laughed about it before going out. But after this episode, they followed us closely on the escalator. I had a bad feeling,” he explains.
A 70-year-old Brussels resident attacked in the metro for his gold chains ©DR
Once we arrived at the exit gates, the situation escalated. “I felt a heavy presence and I began to observe them so that they could see that I was not fooled. One of the two jumped over the gantry while another collared a traveler to pass without paying. Once I passed the gantry, one of the two hit me in the leg so that I fell to the ground but having practiced martial arts, I managed to stay balanced. However, I was in a squatting position and he tore off my two chains, in front of the eyes of my wife who was further away,” he continues.
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Shocked, André called the police who advised him to file a complaint at the police station. “I then went to the Hooba police station where they told me to go to the Bockstael police station. I gave up. Afterwards, I blamed myself for having left my chains visible because I know that attacks are common. My mother-in-law was attacked at the ages of 84 and 88 for necklaces, my niece also in the presence of her daughter in the metro during rush hour. We will end up doing like in Brazil, namely carrying cash with us at all times to give it to our racketeers for fear that they will physically attack us,” he concludes.
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