A violent Syrian migrant has been convicted of kidnapping his Belgian ex-girlfriend, transporting her to Disneyland Paris, billed as “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and continuing to torture and rape her over the course of days.
The horrifying story played out on Monday in a Bruges courtroom in Belgium, where the 24-year-old victim from Zedelgem described the hell she went through with Mohamad S., who fled to Spain from Syria in 2013. After eventually moving to Belgium, the Syrian met the victim and they began a relationship.
The young woman was abused for years by Mohamad S. but never filed a police complaint and even moved in with him in March 2021. The Syrian was reportedly obsessed with the 24-year-old cheating on him and forced her to take photos of her surroundings and friends when she was out until eventually forcing her to cut off social contacts, according to Belgian news outlet HLN.
“She had to cut ties with her friends and close all her social media profiles. My client was not allowed to just be happy and she had to offer him sex every day,” said the victim’s lawyer, Joris Van Maele.
When she finally broke up with him in the spring of 2023, Mohamad S. did not take the news lightly. On June 18, 2023, the victim woke up to find Mohamad sitting on her bed after obtaining the keys to her apartment from a mutual friend. What began next was the beginning of a “weekend of horror, the kind you don’t even see in the movies,” said Van Maele.
The Syrian accused the woman of cheating and “began to beat her savagely moments later.” He struck her with fists multiple times, causing profuse bleeding, leading the victim to begin choking on her own blood. He then forced her head into the toilet and began flushing multiple times.
The victim’s lawyer describes what transpired next, saying: “My client then had a leash put around her neck. She was forced to eat dog food and drink from the dog’s water bowl. The accused carved a tattoo on her with a knife and then started calling her supposed lovers on FaceTime.”
The Syrian then forced the woman to perform sexual acts in front of various contacts on FaceTime that the ex-boyfriend believed were her “supposed lovers.”
Kidnapped and transported to Disneyland Paris
The torture continued until the woman was smuggled out of the apartment and forced into the suspect’s car, where he transported her to Disneyland Paris to a hotel room he had booked.
At Disneyland Paris, the cycle began once again, where Mohamad beat, strangled and raped her repeatedly throughout the weekend.
“She had tried to speak to someone at reception, but in vain,” said the woman’s lawyer.
The victim’s mother and roommate discovered blood inside the apartment and phoned the police when they noticed the victim had disappeared.
However, after the weekend of violence at Disneyland Paris, Mohamed released her, actually dropping her off at a police station. The police then arrested the perpetrator just a few days later.
Mohamed S. still awaits sentencing in the case on June 3, with prosecutors requesting nine years in prison, along with five years of supervision upon release. Mohamed refutes the attempted murder charge, and his lawyer is requesting that he be transferred back to Spain, saying: “Give him another chance to do something with his life. He is not a criminal, but someone with a big problem.”
