A 15-year-old boy was kidnapped last week and allegedly beaten several times during the abduction. He was later released after the kidnappers saw his identity card and supposedly realised they had the wrong person.
At around 21:00 on Thursday 21 September, the local police zone AMOW (Asse, Merchtem, Opwijk and Wemmel) in Flemish Brabant received a call from a man claiming that his child, a minor, had been kidnapped from Lebbeke in East Flanders, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office announced in a statement.
"Later that evening, both the father of the abducted minor and the police contacted the kidnappers several times. The police officers were reportedly informed after several hours that the minor would be released near Asse," the statement read. During the abduction, the minor was beaten numerous times.
The police then received a report from a local resident that a young man had been found in another village, Asbeek, about a 20-minute drive from where he was initially abducted. It transpired that they had released him after seeing his identity card, indicating that they had perhaps targeted the wrong person.
Police were able to identify and locate the abductors' vehicle that same evening. "The vehicle was driving around the Anderlecht area after the minor's release and sped away after police asked the driver of the vehicle to stop," the Public Prosecutor's Office continued. Police received backup and eventually managed to pull the vehicle over. There were three men in the car.
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All three men were arrested and taken in for questioning. "The investigating judge decided to place the three suspects under arrest for deliberate beating and wounding of a minor, illegal and arbitrary detention, hostage-taking, verbal threats with orders or conditions and theft by force or threat, in gang formation, with weapons and a vehicle."
The accused appeared before the chambers, and their arrest was extended for one month. One of them was from the Lebbeke area, the other two were said to be from Brussels. The investigation is ongoing to find out the exact circumstances of the abduction.
