Rapist finally on trial

last updated 8 January 2015

Arlon, Belgium

The man Belgian papers have dubbed “the most hated man in Belgium” went on trial this week for the 1996 rape and murder of several children. That year, Marc Dutroux confessed and led police to the basement dungeon where he had repeatedly raped six girls, ages 8 to 19, for months. Four were dead—two of starvation. Later that year, it emerged that Dutroux had previously been convicted of raping five kids, but had served just three years in prison. Hundreds of thousands of Belgians took to the streets in protest, demanding that he be jailed for life. But the trial was delayed for years because of judicial mix-ups and mishandled evidence. Dutroux, who has received numerous death threats, will appear in court behind a bulletproof glass shield.