The Brussels Court of Appeal on Friday sentenced six men to between six and eight years in prison for filming the gang rape of a young woman, then posting the images on the social network Snapchat.
The charges allegedly took place during the night of October 31 to November 1, 2020, in an apartment in Forest, near the Belgian capital, previously rented by the attackers.
The 23-year-old victim presented himself to the local police on November 4, 2020, claiming to have been raped by several individuals and stating that the images of the attack had just been released publicly. She explained that she had been invited by one of her friends to a party in an apartment in Forest on October 31, which was attended by several boys and two other girls. The victim was forced by this friend to breathe nitrous oxide (known as laughing gas) in balloons and to consume ecstasy. She was then raped by him, in the bathroom and then in the living room of the accommodation, when she was almost unconscious. Five other young men present also raped her in turn.
The gang rape scene was filmed by one of the perpetrators. He then posted it on Snapchat in several videos, which were later handed over to the police.
“The facts charged against the defendants are particularly serious, as they did not hesitate to repeatedly impose, for nearly three hours, sexual relations on the victim, who was clearly in a trance at the following his consumption of alcohol, laughing gas and ecstasy, in order to satisfy their sexual urges”, established the court.
Thus, the court reformed the judgment rendered in corrections on October 5, 2021. The victim’s boyfriend, who had invited her to the apartment in Forest, was then sentenced to 5 years in prison with probation. He is now serving 7 years in prison. Four of the other men received six-year sentences, while sixth will spend the final eight years behind bars.