Teenage girl fatally stabs stepfather on Christmas Day in Flanders

On Christmas Day, a 17-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her 33-year-old stepfather to death following a heated argument in the Flemish town of Huizingen, the region's public prosecutor's office reports.

The victim lived with his girlfriend and her four children in a house on Goudkasteellaan in the small village of Huizingen. Despite the crowded living quarters, however, the murder was reportedly witnessed solely by the girl's 15-year-old brother: her older brother was not in the house at the time of the murder, while her mother and her 13-year-old sister were in another room.

"The first statements show that there was an argument between the man and the 17-year-old stepdaughter, who allegedly threatened him with a knife," said Carol Vercarre, a spokeswoman for the Halle-Vilvoorde Public Prosecutor's Office. "According to the girl, the man took the weapon off her, after which he allegedly stabbed himself. However, this version of events does not correspond to the findings of the coroner's report."

Vercarre added that the victim died due to "a knife stab in the heart and lung area", and noted that the Belgian authorities have already questioned the girl's mother and two younger siblings. The girl was arrested on Monday morning and remains in police custody.

The prosecutor's office further indicated that an investigative judge has been assigned to the case, and that a second autopsy on the victim's body is scheduled for Tuesday.

^{#FlandersNewsService | Illustrative image © BELGA PHOTO THIERRY ROGE}