Belgium care home rape: Victim, 89, granted right to die

Wheelchair-bound woman, 89, is granted right to die after she was raped in Belgian care home: Victim postponed her euthanasia so she could first see her attacker jailed

• Bedridden woman, 89, attacked in care home in Lint, near Antwerp, in July 
• Kris Moedts, 36, was sent to prison for the attack this week after which the elderly woman was granted permission to end her life 
• Lawyers said she had delayed the euthanasia request to see her attacker jailed

A heavily disabled woman who was raped in her Belgian care home bed has been given the right to end her life in the wake of the traumatising attack.

The 89-year-old, who has not been identified, was attacked in a care facility in Lint, near the city of Antwerp, in July by a man named locally as Kris Moedts, 36.

Moedts was sentenced to eight years over the attack, which lawyers said ‘defies all imagination’, this week after which the woman’s euthanasia request was approved.

Lawyers told a court in Belgium that she had delayed the request so that she could see Moedts sentenced first.

An 89-year-old resident of a Belgian care home has been granted the right to end her life after a court heard how she was sexually assaulted in her bed (file image)

Moedts, had drunk six beers and had taken cocaine before entering the care home, according to local reports.

The court was told that he had helped another wheelchair-bound care home resident inside the building before making his way to the victim’s room.

‘Once inside, he barricaded the door of the room with a chair and a cupboard door,’ the prosecutor to the court. 

‘According to the victim, he crawled into bed with her and groped her extensively. 

‘She cried and screamed fiercely and luckily managed to push the alarm button.’ 

One of the caretakers managed to push the door open despite it being blocked.

Lawyers added: ‘When he came in, he saw the man standing next to the bed barefoot and heard the lady crying. 

‘The sheet and underpants of the lady had been pulled down, which she could not have done herself in her state of health. 

‘He was so shocked by what he saw there that he later asked for the help of the victim support services himself. 

The attack, which lawyers said ‘defies all imagination’, took place in Lint, near the city of Antwerp, in July. The attacker was jailed this week

‘Moedts meanwhile fled outside through the back door of the room and was able to escape. The police caught him shortly afterwards.’

Solicitor Walter Damen said the victim had already submitted two requests for euthanasia before the attack because her health has ‘seriously failed’ in recent years. Both were refused.

‘What Kris has done to her now defies all imagination and has hurt her deeply,’ he said. ‘So deep that her third request for euthanasia has been approved. 

The euthanasia is scheduled for December 12. All she wants now is to say goodbye with dignity. 

And the family especially wants an answer to the ‘why’ question. Why did this have to happen now?’

Attorney Xavier Potvin, acting for Moedts, said he has been unable to give an answer.

‘According to him, it would never have happened if he hadn’t taken that cocaine,’ the lawyer said.

‘That caused him to black out. In fact, there is no evidence that he is sexually attracted to the elderly.’

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