Several complaints of homophobic attacks in Brussels have been filed with the police, the city’s prosecutor’s office reported on Tuesday, corroborating a report by Le Soir newspaper.
“The police sectors involved have forwarded several complaints regarding hate crimes,” said Yasmina Vanoverschelde, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office.
Several victims were reportedly lured via a dating app. “Upon reaching the designated meeting place, they were attacked by multiple assailants who subsequently assaulted and insulted them," the spokesperson said. "Some victims were also robbed under threat.”
The official reports are being reviewed by the Brussels prosecutor’s office, Vanoverschelde said.
Le Soir detailed at least five complaints about homophobic incidents, all occurring in the last two weeks of June.
The assailants' modus operandi was reportedly the same in all cases: “a meeting, typically arranged in a park, through a dating app popular among gay men, using a fake account,” the daily noted.
