A 22-year-old woman has filed a sexual assault complaint for an incident that occurred during the Couleur Café festival.
Two men broke into the festival's campsite and then attempted to break into women's tents on Monday, June 27, the morning after the festival's final day.
One festival volunteer, whose tent the assailants tried to break into, screamed and saw movement in one of her friends' tent. Unfortunately, said friend was sexually assaulted while sleeping in her tent.
The 22 year old told La Dernière Heure that she heard two men speaking in a foreign language approaching her tent between 10:00 and 11:00. One of them proceeded to stick his head inside her tent.
She then yelled at him to leave before he went off to join the other person who was loitering around the tents. She made the decision to leave, fearful that the two assailants would return.
"I then texted another young volunteer I met at the festival to see if she is awake, but she did not respond."
Related News
- Paradise City festival warns visitors about dangerous drugs following incidents
- Couleur Café attracts 67,000 festival-goers after two-year hiatus
- 'Scared and disappointed': Student rally at VUB calls on university to stand with victims
She then decided to go to her colleague's tent with another friend to make sure everything was okay, but when she opened the tent, she found the same man lying in her friend's tent. "She was completely frightened, so we yelled at him to leave, but nothing happened; he just stayed in the tent."
The 22-year-old stated that her friend had been the victim of unwanted sexual touching and that she was surprised that no member of security was present to secure the premises on Monday morning.
Due to the noise cause by the incident, other campers came to her aid, and her other friends then dragged the individual to the ground. It turned that he was in possession of a knife. He threatened them before fleeing in the direction of Heysel metro station. They did, however, manage to photograph the assailants as they fled.
Brussels Prosecutor's Office have confirmed that an investigation into the incident is currently underway.
This comes after numerous festivals have also been the site of 'needle spikings,' with the Hasselt festival having to close due to these incidents.
