An 18-year-old woman who stabbed a man after he attacked her friend in central Antwerp, Belgium, has been released under judicial conditions, the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office has confirmed.
The 37-year-old man was left with life-threatening injuries but is now believed to be in a stable condition.
According to the police, cited by VRT, the incident occurred on Saturday night on Grote Kauwenberg, a popular student area, when the man allegedly harassed a 21-year-old woman while she was walking with her friend. He proceeded to grab her hair and pull her to the ground, prompting both young women to scream.
Her 18-year-old friend responded by stabbing the man with a knife. Both women fled the scene but voluntarily reported to the police shortly afterward.
“The man pulled the young woman’s hair, after which she fell. Her friend then stabbed him with a knife,” said police spokeswoman Kim Bastiaens.
Emergency services were quickly alerted, in part due to residents who heard the victim’s cries. A janitor from the nearby University of Antwerp said he was woken by the noise. “I’m used to people shouting around here because there’s often a lot of drinking, but this time someone was calling for help. It went to the bone,” he said. “I called the police straight away, but others had already done so.”
Nurses from a nearby care home were the first to assist the injured man before emergency responders arrived. Witnesses said the man appeared to be heavily intoxicated.
The weapon used in the stabbing was later recovered from a basement ventilation grate, spotted by a VRT camera crew.
According to HLN, the 18-year-old suspect was brought before an investigating judge on Sunday and is being investigated for attempted manslaughter. She has been released under unspecified conditions while the investigation continues. The 21-year-old friend is also being questioned.
A longtime resident of the area told VRT, “I’ve lived here for 30 years. It can be a bit restless because of the students, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The incident is the latest in a concerning rise in violence in the Belgian port city. Last month, a 76-year-old man was killed in a brutal knife attack aboard a De Lijn bus.
Two other people were injured in the attack, including a 63-year-old passenger who attempted to intervene and the bus driver, who was left in a state of shock. According to eyewitnesses, the attacker suddenly brandished a knife and slit the victim’s throat in front of the other passengers. When another man tried to stop him, he was stabbed in the leg.
In May, a 32-year-old man died after being stabbed by an 18-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker while attempting to protect a woman from harassment in the city’s Seefhoek district.
Yesterday, in Antwerp, Belgium, an 18-year-old Eritrean migrant stabbed a man to death who had been trying to help a woman being harassed by the teen.
This video shows the aftermath as another man tried to keep the knifeman calm and contained until the police arrived.
Did… pic.twitter.com/CoWPVWlrRy
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 27, 2025
He was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries the following morning.
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