In the mid-1990s, the Dutroux case caused horror far beyond the borders of Belgium. The then 39-year-old abducted a total of six girls and young women to his basement dungeon, only two of them survived. The demolition excavators are now approaching the site of the event.
In Belgium, demolition has begun of the home of girl killer Marc Dutroux to make way for a memorial to the victims of pedophilia. The demolition work on the so-called "Horror House" or "House of Horrors", as it is called in Belgium, should take about ten days, the authorities said.
In the mid-1990s, the violent criminal held captive, tortured and raped several girls and young women in the building in Charleroi. According to local authorities, the redevelopment project, which also includes a garage and the neighboring house of Marc Dutroux, envisages preserving the basement rooms of the "horror house". This corresponds to the wishes of the families of the victims.
The aim is therefore to build a "memorial garden" on the site of the nationwide notorious place by the end of 2023. Dutroux, now 65, was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to life imprisonment by a jury in 2004. The jury found him guilty of murdering two girls and an accomplice and kidnapping and raping a total of six girls and young women in 1995 and 1996. He was also blamed for the deaths of two eight-year-old girls who starved to death while he was in prison.
Dutroux has been in solitary confinement for more than a quarter of a century. His ex-wife and accomplice was released in 2012 after 16 years in prison.
