„Das hätte nicht passieren müssen“: Opfer homophober Gewalt in Leuven sagt, Polizei habe Warnung nicht ernst genommen, Polizei habe keine Kenntnis von Bericht | VRT NWS: Neuigkeiten

>The victim says all of this could have been prevented. „During the conversation, I quickly realized it was a fake profile,“ he says. „The messages were very direct and pushy. Moreover, they were poorly written and childish, which didn’t fit the profile.“

>The twenty-something decided to intervene and called the police. **“Because it wasn’t an emergency, I called the Leuven police station. I told them my story, but the policewoman didn’t seem to take me seriously. ‚We’ll pass it on,‘ she said before hanging up.“**

>The man didn’t leave it at that and drove to Leuven station. „It was out of a kind of meddling,“ he admits. „I was absolutely certain it was a fake profile and wanted to be proven right. At the park, **I stayed in my closed car. I soon saw them sitting there, hidden in the park. I called the police again, but I got the same answer: ‚We’ll report it.'“**

>At that point, the youths attacked the passerby. „Then I got out to help the man. I mostly remember his screams and cries for help. We walked toward the victim with two girls. Then one of the perpetrators must have recognized me from the dating app. They formed a circle around me and beat me up. Luckily, they left the girls alone.“

>The twenty-something man needed five stitches from the incident, but felt better four days later. „I’m especially shocked by the incident and disappointed with the police’s response. The neighbors helped us and called emergency services, and they did a good job. But if I had been taken seriously beforehand, this wouldn’t have happened.“

**Leuven Police spokesperson Marc Vranckx reacted with surprise. „I’m absolutely not aware of any reports, but we take these kinds of things very seriously,“ he said. „We always send a team to reports.**