1,000 people gathered in Mol (Antwerp Province) on Monday evening to remember an 18-year-old teenager that was stabbed to death in the town on Saturday night. What had started as a gathering organised by the far-right party Vlaams Belang to call for safer streets soon became a wake for 18-year-old Benten. Many hundreds of people laid flowers at the place where Benten was stabbed.
Vlaams Belang that is in the opposition on the local council had called on party members and sympathisers to gather on the Corbiestraat in Mol at 7pm. The party wished to use Saturday night’s incident to call for greater security in Mol.
However, many friends and family members wished to hold a vigil to remember Benten and had no desire for his death to be used for political ends. A lot of young people laid flowers and lit candles at the place where the stabbing took place. This was done serenely.
3 suspects are minors
Meanwhile, 3 suspects, all of whom minors, have been apprehended in connection with the stabbing. They have been sent to a secure youth detention centre. They are aged 15 and 16. An adult suspect was detained on Sunday and has since been released on conditional bail.
The investigation is still ongoing. The stabbing reportedly occurred during an argument about a vape.