The body of a homeless man was found on Sunday evening in the Leemputtelaarbaan in Deurne. Three people have been arrested, although there is still a lot of uncertainty about the circumstances in which the homeless person died.
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For a few years now, some homeless people have been living in the Leemputtelaarbaan. There, in the shadow of Deurne airport, some garages have been crumbling in the railway verge for years. About four years ago, a homeless Polish woman took up residence in one of those boxes. For some time she was joined by a few fellow sufferers. One of them stayed a little further on, in a green tent.
What exactly happened to that garage box last weekend is not yet known. However, it soon became clear to local residents that something serious had happened. “Just after half past seven on Sunday evening, I saw that the police had lined the street with a police tape,” says local resident Mariska Smits, who herself lives in Deurnestraat. “Then there were police cars, but also an ambulance and a van from the lab into the street.”
“We often pass in the street because the children go to school in the neighborhood. We immediately thought that something had happened to that Polish woman, ”says Mariska. However, the police found the body of a man at the garage on Sunday evening. It is not yet clear in what circumstances he died. Three people were arrested, in addition to the 43-year-old Polish woman, a 51-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man.
“These are people with Polish nationality. They are suspected of deliberate beatings and injuries resulting in death, ”confirms spokesman Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office. “All three of them are brought before the investigating judge. An autopsy should provide more clarity about the man’s cause of death, ”Aerts said. The garage has been sealed, further investigation is in the hands of the federal judicial police. (jtp)
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