A 17-year-old girl stabbed her 33-year-old stepfather to death following a heated argument on Christmas Day, Belga News Agency has reported.
The victim lived with his girlfriend and her four children in a house on Goudkasteellaan in the small village of Huizingen in Flemish Brabant. Despite the crowded living quarters, however, the murder was reportedly witnessed solely by the girl's 15-year-old brother: her older brother was not in the house at the time of the murder, while her mother and her 13-year-old sister were in another room.
"The first statements show that there was an argument between the man and the 17-year-old stepdaughter, who allegedly threatened him with a knife," said Carol Vercarre, a spokeswoman for the Halle-Vilvoorde Public Prosecutor's Office. "According to the girl, the man took the weapon off her, after which he allegedly stabbed himself. However, this version of events does not correspond to the findings of the coroner's report."
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Vercarre added that the victim died due to "a knife stab in the heart and lung area", and noted that the girl's mother and two younger siblings have already been questioned by the Belgian authorities. The girl was arrested on Monday morning and remains in police custody.
The prosecutor's office further indicated that an investigative judge has been assigned to the case, and that a second autopsy on the victim's body is scheduled for Tuesday.