Sixty tortured and raped his 32 -year -old wife (Kortrijk)

Boubakar B. (61) has Algerian roots, but has been living in Belgium legally for decades. In the fall of 2021 he met his 32 -year -old girlfriend through a dating site. The Algerian woman agreed to marry the Kortrijkzaan and thus obtain residence papers. A year later she traveled from Algeria to Belgium and moved in at B. in Kortrijk.

However, B. did not take any steps to put the woman’s residence status in order. Instead he started her out on all kinds of areas. « Not only financially, but also sexually. She didn’t know anyone here and because of her illegal status she couldn’t say no. She was completely dependent on that man, » said lawyer Tim Dierynck.

Burn

In the night of 1 to 2 May 2023, the situation got out of hand when B. the blanket under which his wife was partly lay, sprinkled with paint thinner and set fire to a lighter. The woman thereby sustained third -degree burns.

Read too. Sixties caused heavy burns in girlfriend and gets conditional for four years

B., who extinguished the flames himself, insisted that it was an accident. But the Kortrijk criminal court saw that differently and sentenced him to four years in prison for torture in June last year. Among other things, he received a contact ban with the woman.

The statements made by the woman in the torture file made it clear that there was also sexual exploitation. The public prosecutor decided to continue B. separately for human trafficking and rape. « The victim had to do sexual acts against her will, » explained attorney Jinmin Arnou. « The defendant used her as a house slave and celebrated his sexual lust on her. »

Revenge

The attorney asked for effective prison sentence for three years, but the defense opposed it. According to lawyer Jan Kempinaire, the victim’s statements fit in with her attempts to obtain a residence permit. « After she was arrested for her illegal stay, she was told that she could still get it as a victim of human trafficking, » he argued. « With that additional complaint, she wanted to take revenge on my client. »

Master Kempinaire also stated that his client cannot be punished twice for the same facts. The attorney emphasized that the facts for which B. in Kortrijk was convicted differ completely from those for which he is now on trial in Bruges.

The Bruges court spoke B. on Wednesday for human trafficking and sexual exploitation. According to the judge it has not been proven that the woman had to sleep with other men on behalf of B. to pay him money back. The court did see sufficient evidence for rape. Because the previously imposed punishment was considered insufficient, B. received a year in prison. For example, he must tackle his alcohol addiction and follow therapy over the next three years.

B. must pay 3,000 euros for moral compensation to the victim.