A Belgian shopkeeper has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after stabbing a burglar to death at the entrance to his store in the early hours of Saturday morning, Belgian media report.
The incident took place around 01:30 at the Nil Market supermarket in Houthalen-Helchteren, in the province of Limburg, when an unnamed 36-year-old masked man broke into the shop carrying a sharp object which is believed to have been a screwdriver.
The burglar was subsequently confronted by 48-year-old storeowner Hasan Y, from nearby Zonhoven, and his colleague, 29-year-old Gentiana. After a brutal fight in which Gentiana was also injured, Hasan ended up stabbing the burglar several times with a knife.
The emergency services were summoned shortly after but were unable to save the man's life. Hasan was subsequently arrested and interrogated by police; surveillance footage from the store as well as Gentiana's own testimony have also since been collected by investigators.
Hasan denies the allegation of manslaughter, arguing that he acted in self-defence. He will remain in police custody until his initial court hearing on Tuesday.
'A hard-working entrepreneur'
According to Hasan's lawyer, his client is an upstanding member of the local community who has never previously been in trouble with authorities.
"My client is a hard-working entrepreneur," Tom Van Overbeke told De Standaard. "He explained the facts to the police and the investigating judge, who decided to detain him for the time being, pending further investigation. He cooperates and will continue to do so. We are confident that all the puzzle pieces needed to make a correct assessment will soon be collected."
Van Overbeke argued that the fact that his client was armed with a knife in no way suggests that he is not innocent: "It's not that he specifically went to get that knife somewhere in the supermarket or that he already had that knife in his pocket before. It is a shop where staff members also eat together in the afternoon. Knives are present in such an environment."
'I'm broken for years'
In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN), shop assistant Gentiana, who witnessed the killing, spoke in harrowing detail about the incident's impact on her own mental health.
"I'm broken for years," she said. "I haven't been able to sleep for two nights. I barely know where my head is. I can't even remember my own phone number."
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She added that Hasan is not an aggressive man and that his fierce reaction on this occasion may well have been a consequence of the fact that the store had been broken into twice in just the past few months.
"This was self-defence," Gentiana explained. "He risked his own life from the blows and stings he received. But Hasan wouldn't want to kill anyone just like that. He has four children, why would he risk that? He always stayed far away from quarrels or fights."
