Woman Fights Off Attempted Rapist in Merksem to Warn Others

A 32-year-old woman from Merksem, Antwerp, has come forward nearly a year after surviving a violent attempted rape to share her story and help police identify her attacker. Speaking under the pseudonym “Sophie,” she described how she fought for her life at the end terminal of Antwerp tram line 3 on the morning of June 15, 2025.

“I fought for my life. Five times I repeated that he would have to kill me first if he wanted to rape me,” Sophie told Het Laatste Nieuws. “I thought: ‘I’d rather be dead than have this happen to me.’”

The Attack

Sophie had spent the evening with friends in Antwerp city center and boarded tram 3 heading home to Merksem in the early morning hours. Onboard, a young man with black hair wearing a light grey tracksuit caught her attention. Surveillance footage shows he nearly got off at the second-to-last stop but changed his mind upon seeing Sophie, moving to sit directly in front of her.

“This is the moment when he deliberately chooses his victim,” said Kristof Aerts, spokesperson for the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office, describing the footage.

When Sophie alighted at the P+R Merksem terminus on the Bredabaan, the man followed her persistently, asking “How are you doing? Where are you from?” Feeling unsafe, Sophie called a friend and tried to lose him by crossing the street toward the tennis courts. Just as she thought she had escaped, the man attacked her from behind.

“Suddenly he attacked me from behind,” Sophie recalled. “He grabbed my neck, immediately took my phone, and threw me to the ground in a grassy area.”

What followed was a prolonged and violent assault. The suspect spat in Sophie’s face, kissed her, groped her, and attempted to rape her. At one point, he took the strap of her handbag and choked her twice. “I wanted to keep fighting, but eventually I was so tired,” she said, her voice breaking. “I really thought: ‘I’m not getting out of this.’ I begged him: ‘kill me.’ That’s a very strange feeling.”

Escape and Aftermath

Sophie attempted to escape three times. On the third attempt, the suspect briefly released her wrists. She seized the opportunity and ran, but he chased her down and slammed her to the ground again, punching her in the face. Despite this, she managed to break free, run to the Bredabaan tram stop, and collapse in shock.

“Those first months after the incident I felt nothing. I was a shadow of myself,” Sophie said. She stopped working and moved back in with her parents for several months. She is now undergoing therapy to process the trauma. “I became a victim of sexual violence. That’s very hard to grasp, because it’s a category you never want to belong to.”

Police Investigation

The case is being investigated by the Federal Judicial Police in collaboration with the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office. The suspect is described as a young man with black hair and stubble, wearing a light grey tracksuit with a hood and Nike shoes. He spoke English and smelled of cigarettes.

Police are also urgently seeking a key witness — a man in a black hoodie who spoke briefly with the suspect on the tram. According to Kristof Aerts, the suspect sat next to this man upon boarding, they greeted each other and had a short conversation, after which the suspect moved to sit elsewhere. “The man in the hoodie may have been harassed by the man with black hair, but it’s also possible they know each other,” Aerts said. “In any case, we would very much like to speak to the man in the hoodie.”

Public Appeal

Sophie’s story was published as part of the Faroek investigation program, a monthly crime-solving initiative by veteran journalist Faroek Özgünes that collaborates with the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The program has a track record of generating actionable public tips.

Anyone with information about the suspect or the key witness can contact the police via the free tip line at 0800 30 300 or by email at opsporingen@police.belgium.eu.

Sophie hopes her testimony will help prevent future attacks. “I want to tell my story,” she said. “I became a victim of sexual violence. That’s a category you never want to belong to.”

This article was compiled from the Het Laatste Nieuws report by Ellen Nagtegals and Axelle Pardon, published May 17, 2026, as part of the Faroek investigation series.