The brutal admission ritual of a fraternity in Belgium leads to the death of a student. Now the process begins on a case that also sparked a debate about racism in the country.
Hasselt – A 20 year old applies to a Belgian fraternity.
According to media reports, during a cruel admission ritual, the young man has to drink huge amounts of alcohol and fish oil, urinates on him, and he has to endure for hours in cold water. The student’s body cannot withstand the strain: he dies in the hospital.
18 men now have to answer before the Hasselt Regional Court, among other things, for negligent homicide, failure to provide assistance and the administration of harmful and deadly substances, according to a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office. The trial began on Friday. In addition to the criminal law dimension, the case in Belgium had sparked a debate about racism: the victim was black and wanted to participate in an elite white association.
At the start of the hearing, the regional court has now agreed to hear the first witnesses, experts and forensic doctors in October, as a spokeswoman said. Members of the association and their lawyers will therefore be interviewed in April 2022. According to the Belgian media, the defendants face prison sentences of up to 15 years.
The student association “Reuzegom” from the university city of Leuven, east of Brussels, organized the admission ritual on December 5, 2018. Among the members it was referred to as a “baptism event”, in which two other newcomers also took part in addition to the 20-year-old. They wanted to be part of the prestigious alliance – but for that they had to endure terrible things.
The 20-year-old victim had to drink tons of alcohol. As the Belgian media write, the three contenders were peed on several times by the older “Reuzegom” members. At night, the tap in the victim’s room was turned off so that he could not drink from his alcoholic hangover.
More exertions are said to have followed that day: According to information from the Belgian newspaper “De Standaard”, the victim and his two comrades-in-arms had to stay half-naked in a pit filled with water when the outside temperature was six degrees. The young men were asked questions. If the answer was correct, there was water – if the answer was wrong, they had to eat unsavory foods, such as huge amounts of fish oil. The 20-year-old had to bite off the head of a living eel. Therefore, the members of the association must answer in court for the violation of animal welfare law.
The young man’s health deteriorated increasingly, as “De Standaard” reports. On the evening of the second day, he was taken to the hospital, unconscious and hypothermic. According to the newspaper, his body temperature had dropped to 27.2 degrees – a life-threatening condition. He died on December 7, 2018 as a result of the ordeal – several organs had failed.
The case sparked consternation and debate in Belgium and beyond, with students on vigil. The “New York Times” wrote of an increasing shift to the right and racist tendencies in the Belgian region of Flanders, where the connection was located. Videos, pictures and chat histories later emerged to show members chanting and making racist statements.
In 2019, UN human rights experts warned in a report that citizens of African descent in Belgium were still experiencing racism and discrimination. It has been proven that this is also widespread in Belgian institutions.
The University of Leuven was “deeply shaken” after the student’s death. In early 2019, she initiated disciplinary proceedings against some students. Seven had been expelled from the university for several years, some for good, the university said. The fraternity broke up after the unscrupulous ritual. dpa
