The family does not believe that Sourour (46) took his own life in a police cell: “She was very active and lived with her son” (Brussels)
The relatives of 46-year-old Sourour Abouda, who died last Thursday in a Brussels police cell, do not believe that the woman took her own life. The first elements of the research point to this. “But that is very unlikely according to her family,” says lawyer Joke Callewaert.
Chris Verhaeghe
On Wednesday evening, the woman was administratively arrested by the Brussels police for ‘disturbing public order’. After her arrest, she was guaranteed to go to the detention center of the Zonal Guard in Brussels Rue Royale. The woman was found dead on Thursday morning. The cell complex falls under the presence of the Brussels Capital/Ixelles police zone. “But we do not comment in order to maintain serenity in the matter,” says spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere.
“The public prosecutor’s office was notified and was dismantled on site, together with a law doctor and the technical investigation department of the federal police,” said Willemien Baert of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office last weekend. “The first determination shows that it is a suicide.”
READ ALSO. 40-year-old woman died in police cell in Brussels
This is provisionally confirmed by the autopsy report, the public prosecutor’s office reported on Monday. “In addition to other investigative acts, committee P analyzed the camera images of the cell complex,” said Baert. “On the basis of the initial conclusions and the preliminary report of the autopsy examination, there would be no third-party intervention.”
Toxicological examination
“A toxicology study was also ordered. The final results will be available in the first weeks. The park is paying special attention to this investigation to discover the correct circumstances of these facts.
The relatives of the 46-year-old woman do not believe that she took her own life. “That is very unlikely according to her family,” says lawyer Joke Callewaert. “She was very active and worked at the PAC (Presence and Action Culturelles, a hence ecosocial organization for lifelong learning, ed.). She also lived with her 19-year-old son whom she was responsible for. According to her family, she had no suicidal thoughts at all.”
READ ALSO. One hundred people remembering woman (46) died in Brussels police cell
The criminal lawyer also questions the supervision in the detention center in Koningsstraat. “Last time, in 2021, there was also a death there. The young man’s body was not noticed until hours after his death. The management and control in that cell complex seem very pensive to me. Although these concerns are currently secondary, because the family does not believe in suicide at all.”
Anyone with questions about suicide can contact the Suicide Line on the free number 1813 and on the website www.zelfmoord1813.be.