A jeweller from the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht has been the victim of a so-called “tiger kidnapping. Both he and his family were threatened by the criminals that were out to plunder jewellery from his shop on the Weyezstraat, the main shopping street in the centre of Anderlecht.
In a video posted on the social media platform TikTok, the jeweller says that “They forced me to open the safe and if I didn’t, they would do something to me and my wife.
The kidnapping and robbery took place on Wednesday evening and was first reported on in Friday’s edition of the Francophone daily ‘La Dernière Heure’. The jeweller has since confirmed that he was the victim of a tiger kidnapping when he was contacted by a journalist from the Brussels regional news platform Bruzz.
The man, whose first name is Moustapha, moved to new premises on the Weyezstraat 2 months ago. When he arrived home on Wednesday evening a van with 4 men in it was waiting for him in the underground carpark of the building in which he and his family live. 2 of the 4 men were carrying handguns, they also had a taser and an automatic weapon with them.
Gold and silver
The robbers forced them to accompany them and threatened his family. Moustapha told Bruzz that “They said that if I didn’t cooperate, they would first kill me and then my wife. So I just did what they said. What else could I do?”.
The kidnappers took Moustapha back to his shop, where they forced him to open the safe. “They knew very well what they were after: gold and silver. In the meantime, they had told me that another member of the gang was at my home and that they would hurt my family if I didn’t do what they asked me”.
Kalashnikov
Moustapha says that after the robbery he was knocked unconscious by a Kalashnikov machine gun, tied up and left in his shop. He was freed by a neighbour.
“We went to the police and they took me to hospital”. The jeweller sustained injuries to his forehead and his right eye.
Moustapha and his family are deeply disturbed by what has happened to them. “My wife has suffered a lot of stress as a result of what has happened, it is difficult”. Nevertheless, Moustapha is not thinking of quitting. “I am working today, I will carry on”.
The incident is being investigated by the Federal Judicial Police. The prosecutor’s office has not yet confirmed if it has opened an investigation.