All eighteen students accused of playing a role in the death of a Black student during an initiation ritual at a Belgian university have been ordered to stand trial
BRUSSELS — All eighteen students accused of playing a role in the death of a Black student during an initiation ritual at a Belgian university have been ordered to stand trial, lawyers for the victim’s mother said on Thursday.
Twenty-year-old Sanda Dia died in a hospital in December 2018 after he was forced to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, fish oil, and made to sit in freezing water during a vicious hazing to enter the elite student fraternity called Reuzegom.
Lawyers Nathalie Buisseret and David Dendoncker confirmed reports in Belgian media that the students from the prestigious KU Leuven university will face charges of manslaughter, intentional administration of harmful substances resulting in death, degrading treatment and culpable negligence.
A date for the trial has yet to be set.
Separately, the KU Leuven said it has started a disciplinary procedure against the students involved, and that they received a disciplinary sanction.
“After the Reuzegom student initiation ritual, it was immediately clear that the ritual was in all respects contrary to what KU Leuven expects from its students,” the university said.
