A criminal court in Tongeren-Borgloon, Limburg Province, on Tuesday sentenced a 43-year-old Afghan man to 10 years in prison for setting his wife on fire in 2023, and ordered his immediate arrest.
The court also stripped him of his civil and political rights for the same period. He was ordered to pay provisional compensation of €15,000 to his wife, who suffered second- and third-degree burns to much of her body and face, and €3,000 to their underage son, who witnessed the attack.
The man had lived in Genk with his family since 2000. According to the court, he had become addicted to cocaine, forced his wife to take the drug, and was consumed by extreme jealousy.
He regularly beat his wife and their four children and threatened to blow up the family home.
During an argument on 31 August 2023, he doused his wife in heating oil and set her alight. Investigators said gas cylinders had been placed in the kitchen and were ready to explode.
As the victim fled while on fire and called the emergency services herself, he did not intervene. He eventually took her to hospital, where he left her.
Police arrested him at his home shortly afterwards.
He gave several conflicting accounts, first claiming it was a domestic accident and later saying his wife had harmed herself. He continued to deny the charges in court.
Three years on, the victim has undergone several operations and is still living with severe long-term injuries, her lawyer said last month. She has also continued to receive threats.
The man was initially prosecuted for attempted voluntary manslaughter, but the charge was upgraded to attempted murder at the request of the public prosecutor. He was also accused of assaulting his wife and son, and of possessing and using cocaine.
Given the seriousness of the offences and the risk that he might flee, prosecutors requested his immediate arrest, which the court granted.
