The body of nine-year-old Raul, was found tortured to death in the port of Ghent in mid-April. The public prosecutor’s office of East-Flanders reported that his stepfather has been arrested.
The little boy died on 31 January at 4am after being tortured in the presence of his mother Yoana M. (30 years old), his sister (12 yeas old) and his stepfather Nicu C. (34 years old). Together, the child’s parents hid the body in a sports bag, before disposing of the bag into water after weighing it down with stones.
The family is originally from Romania but not legally registered in Belgium, both parents reportedly worked at a meat plant in the north of the country. According to Flemish newspaper “De Standaard” the neighbours weren’t aware that the little boy had been missing since late January.
Nobody was aware that the child was being severely abused for months at the hands his stepfather. Raul was frequently beaten with a belt and his stepfather would sometimes pour ice cold or burning hot water onto his body.
The night of 31 January the boy sadly did not survive this torture and instead of calling emergency services, his mother and stepfather preferred to hide the body.
The family was able to hide the young boy’s death for many weeks. His mother had posted a picture of the whole family, including Raul, on social media in February.
It was only on 31 March that his mother change her profile picture to a black screen, an image which is commonly associated with grief. According to Flemish Newspaper “Het Nieuwsblad” she hasn’t posted any other picture of her life partner since February.
In contrast, the stepfather has been regularly posting pictures of himself online. In the meantime, an international search warrant for him had been put out, following a text message making rounds in the Romanian family of the dead child.
In the end, one of Raul’s uncles who lives in Germany came to Belgium to report the disappearance.
The mother and sister were then interrogated by law enforcement in mid-April. The sister’s statements led the police to the area of the port of Ghent where investigators made the tragic discovery.
