Death of Sanda Dia
Mural of Sanda Dia in Leuven (2023)
LocationVorselaar, Belgium
Date
  • Hazing: 4–5 December 2018
  • Death: 7 December 2018

c. 8:01–9:25 pm CDT (UTC−5)
Attack type
Hazing initiation ritual
VictimSanda Dia
Perpetrators18 students
VerdictInvoluntary manslaughter – guilty
Convictions
  • €400 fine each
  • 200 or 300 hour community service each

Sanda Dia was a Belgian student who died in the Antwerp University Hospital in 2018 as a result of a Reuzegom fraternity hazing ritual in Vorselaar when he was aged 20.[1] He was a student at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (known as "KU Leuven").[2]

On 4 and 5 December 2018, Dia was obliged to drink fish oil, alcoholic drinks and stand outdoors in freezing water, amongst being subject to other humiliating and degrading acts. After collapsing, he was driven to hospital where he died of multiple organ failure two days later. His death was attributed to the salt content in the fish oil he ingested. The medical doctor and forensic pathologist expert Werner Jacobs told in the Hasselt Court that Dia had several injuries caused by violent acts.[3]

Four years later, eighteen unnamed students were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. They were ordered to pay fines of €400 each and were sentenced to 200 or 300 hours of community service by the Antwerp Court of Appeal.

Sanda Dia

Dia was an engineering student from Edegem[4] He was 20 years old at the time of his death.[5] His father was a refugee from Senegal.[6]

He was in good health prior to his death.[6]

Hazing and death

On 5 December 2018,[4] in a woodland cabin in Vorselaar, as part of a hazing ritual, Dia was obliged to drink copious amounts of alcohol before standing half-naked, outside in the cold, in a pool of freezing water and consuming a live goldfish before being forced to throw it back up by drinking dangerous, lethal amounts of fish oil.[7] The hazing was a ritual of the Reuzegom[8] fraternity at KU Leuven.[7][6] After hours in the freezing pool, Dia went into cardiac arrest[6] and collapsed.[4]

Fraternity members then drove him to a local hospital in Malle.[4] A nurse said she had the impression that the young men did not realise how serious his condition was (despite the fact that one of the Reuzegom members present at the hazing was a student in medicine – he however did not assist in helping Dia at any stage).[9] At 21:49, Dia was transferred to the University Hospital of Antwerp, where hospital staff alerted the police.[4]

After the hazing, fraternity members, assisted by parents and by ex-members, coördinated the deleting of evidence[4] like text messages and video recordings from their phones and cleaned up the cabin and its surroundings, in an attempt to cover up what had happened. The next day a few members went to clean up Dia’s student room as well, in attempt to cover as much evidence as possible.[6] When the police arrived at the cabin at 3:53 a.m., on December 6, the scene had been cleaned.[4]

On December 7, Dia died of multiple-organ failure.[5][7]

The coroner attributed his death to salt toxicity, attributable to the consumption of the fish oil.[7] The amount of salt in his body was comparable to a person who drank 4 litres (0.88 imp gal; 1.1 US gal) (1.06 gal) of seawater.[10] This caused acute cerebral edema (swelling of the brain).[11]

Aftermath

The lawyer of Dia's father requested a reconstruction of the events that led to Dia's death; his request was not granted.[12]

KU Leuven initially suspended the students but permitted them to resume studying later.[6] The Reuzegom fraternity was disbanded after Dia's death.[7]

On 26 May 2023, at the Antwerp Court of Appeal, eighteen students were each found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and degrading. [13][4] Each of the students were acquitted of other charges, including culpable neglect and administering a harmful substance causing death or illness. They were fined €400 each and required to do community service sentences of 200 or 300 hours each. The students were additionally obliged to pay damages to the Dia family, €15,000 to his father, €8,000 to his brother and €6,000 to his stepmother. His mother sought and obtained damages of €1.[5] Prosecutors had requested jail sentences for the perpetrators, seeking convictions of between 18 and 50 months.[6][14]

After a crowd-funding campaign,[15] friends commissioned a mural of Dia.[16]

Protests against the sentencing for those that caused the death of Dia, and class-based justice occurred in Louvain, Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges and Ghent.[7] "Fok Reuzegom" was painted on a roof near the Leuven railway station.[17] In the Netherlands there were protests in Rotterdam and The Hague, nearby the Belgian Embassy.[18] Public commentary noted that some of the fraternity were the sons of judges and politicians and that their high social class influenced their sentence to be too lenient.[7]

Bibliography

  • Huyberechts, Pieter (2021) Sanda Dia: De doop die leidde tot de dood
  • De Coninck, Douglas (2022) Ontmenselijkt

References

  1. ↑ "Students in Belgium Hazing Death Are Sentenced to Fines and Service". 26 May 2023. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Still Catholic, the University of Louvain?". The Brussels Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Bosschaerts, Inge (13 October 2021). "Sanda Dia kreeg ook klappen: 'Aantal verwondingen duiden op stomp geweld'" [Sanda Dia was also hit: 'Number of injuries indicate blunt force']. HLN (in Flemish). DPG Media. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Huyberechts, Pieter (25 July 2020). "'Oh neen, Zaadje en ik gaan hiervoor opdraaien.' Dit gebeurde in de uren na de dood van Sanda Dia" ['Oh no, Zaadje and I are going to pay for this.' What happened in the hours after Sanda Dia's death]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Stevis-Gridneff, Matina; Ryckewaert, Koba (26 May 2023). "Students in Belgium Hazing Death Are Sentenced to Fines and Service". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rankin, Jennifer (13 March 2023). "Ex-fraternity members back in Belgian court over death of black student". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sanda Dia: Belgium reckons with verdict over black student's hazing death". BBC News. 2 June 2023. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Home – Gerechtigheid voor Sanda Dia". Reuzegom (in Flemish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Reconstructie: Had de dood van Sanda Dia voorkomen kunnen worden?". De Morgen. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Du Roy, Désirée (13 October 2021). "Medische experts: student Sanda stierf aan overdosis zout tijdens ontgroening". Welingelichte Kringen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Wetsdokter op proces-Sanda Dia: 'Als u vier liter zeewater drinkt, dan zit u hier niet meer'". Het Belang van Limburg (in Flemish). 12 October 2021. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ousmane Dia en advocaat Sven Mary: 'Wij hebben om een reconstructie van de doop gevraagd. De onderzoeksrechter is er niet op ingegaan'". Humo (in Dutch). 3 June 2023. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Hof van beroep Antwerpen– Arrest: Correctionele zaken. Rolnummer: 2022/CO/393 [Court of Appeal, Antwerp – Judgment: Correctional matters. Roll number: 2022/CO/393] (PDF) (in Dutch), 26 May 2023, Notitienummer parket-generaal: 2019/PGA/4367; 2022/VJ11/413. Systeemnummer parket: 19CO6640.
  14. ↑ "All 18 accused in hazing death of student Sanda Dia sent for trial". The Brussels Times. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  15. ↑ Verstraete, Judit (9 June 2021). "Vriend van Sanda Dia over succes van steunactie: 'We hebben al veel meer ingezameld dan we hadden gehoopt'". VRT NWS (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  16. ↑ Hoof, Thomas van den (21 September 2022). "Reusachtige muurschildering op aula Pieter De Somer eert overleden KU Leuven-student Sanda Dia" [Giant mural on auditorium Pieter De Somer honours deceased KU Leuven student Sanda Dia]. VRT NWS (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Onbekenden plaatsen onverbloemde boodschap voor Reuzegom in de buurt van station Leuven". De Morgen (in Dutch). 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  18. ↑ Lefevere, Fabian; Willems, Ann (7 June 2023). "Zaak-Sanda Dia waait over naar Nederland: betogingen in Den Haag en Rotterdam". VRT NWS (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
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