Stepfather and landlord before the judge after malnourished woman dies due to hardship: « She barely weighed 30 kilos » (Kortenberg)

A stepfather and landlord risk fifteen and six months in prison, after a woman died due to hardship. She had a mental disability, but never received the right care. On the contrary, it was locked up in a dirty and unsanitary room. When she was found, she barely weighed thirty kilograms.

For years, PDB lived with his stepdaughter on the street in Brussels. They were hit homeless after the victim’s mother died in 2011. But a few years ago they could still go to a guesthouse in Kortenberg, at Landelsbaas TC (50). There they each had a room, in a house with a common kitchen.

Locked

They had a roof over their heads, with the woman it went downhill. « First the neighbors saw her occasionally, » said the attorney. « But after a while they didn’t see cooked anymore. She no longer came out and after a while she didn’t even leave her room anymore. She was locked up there, because her stepfather thought it was irresponsible that she was walking around alone in the house. »

The circumstances in which the woman lived were inhumane. She lay in a dirty bed all day in an unsanitary room. « The victim became very skinny, » said the attorney. « When she was found, she barely weighed thirty kilos, while she was 1.67 meters tall. She had a BMI of barely eleven. »

Blood poisoning

The emergency services were called on March 13 last year because the woman had died. Her stepfather said when he woke up that night around four o’clock and noticed that the dog had died. He woke up his stepdaughter so that she could say goodbye, but barely six hours later he also found her body lifeless.

The autopsy showed that the woman died due to blood poisoning. Due to a shortage of food, her stomach and intestinal system became completely empty. The malnutrition and unsanitary circumstances in which she lived led to her death. The research also showed that she suffered from Sotos syndrome, giving her the intellectual capacities of a 10-year-old. So she needed care, but never got it.

« Didn’t know »

Her stepfather and landlord appeared on Monday morning for the Leuven correctional court, due to guilty omission. « They knew about her condition, but did not intervene, » the Public Prosecution Service said. Her stepfather, PDB, now risks 15 months in prison, but he did not show up for the process. Landscaping TC was there. He risks six months in prison, but asked the acquittal.

« I wasn’t there often in that period, » said C. « I took those people in the house because they lived on the street. I wanted to help them. Yes, I knew that woman was lean. But that it went so badly? No, I never noticed. I did my best, but I didn’t know. »

The verdict will follow on June 16.