Schaerbeek murder to be investigated as femicide

A woman running a small restaurant in Schaerbeek was the victim of a fatal stabbing, according to the Brussels public prosecutor's office.

The Brussels-North police zone was called to the Avenue du Diamant last Tuesday evening “for a woman with serious stab wounds in the communal hall of a property”, the public prosecutor said.

“On arrival, the officers gave the victim first aid until the emergency services arrived. The emergency services then took over, but the victim succumbed to their injuries.”

Two people were arrested in connection with the suspected murder soon after, one of whom is reported to be a former partner of the victim. That suspect was charged with murder while the other was later released.

Belgium adopted new legislation last year surrounding femicide, described at the time by secretary of state for gender equality Marie-Colline Leroy as “a historic turning point in the fight against gender violence in Belgium”.

The 2023 law enshrined a legal definition for femicide, which is the intentional killing of a woman because of her gender.

UN data indicate that femicides are overwhelmingly the result of intimate violence, meaning victims are killed by current or past romantic partners, or fathers or other relatives.

Because the business owner in Schaerbeek is thought to have been murdered by her former romantic partner, the case is likely to be investigated as a femicide.

“At this stage of the investigation, the circumstances of the events are not clear,” authorities said of the murder.

“The investigation is ongoing and in the interests of that investigation, no further information can be released.”

Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga