Belgium has opened a memorial garden on the site where notorious serial killer Marc Dutroux imprisoned his young victims, more than a quarter of a century after his crimes shocked Europe.
Authorities in Charleroi city last year tore down the "house of horrors," in which Dutroux tortured and raped children in a soundproofed dungeon.
The fathers of two eight-year-old victims, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, were there to formally inaugurate the tree-filled garden decorated with a mural of a child watching a kite soar into the sky.
"Thank you for preserving the memory of our little ones with this superb work," said Julie's father, Jean-Denis Lejeune, after a minute's silence.
He said it is important to remember that pedophilia "existed and that it still exists."
Sentenced in 2004 to life imprisonment, Dutroux, today aged 66, was found guilty on charges including kidnapping and raping six girls and young women from 1995-1996, and the murder of two of the teenagers.
The modest red-brick building in the Marcinelle suburb of Charleroi became infamous when in August 1996 Dutroux led police to two kidnapped girls, aged 14 and 12, cowering in the basement.
The investigation into Belgium's worst pedophile crimes established that Julie and Melissa had been held for months.
Their bodies were found buried at another property. A postmortem showed they had been starved to death.
Public shock turned to fury as it emerged not only that police had missed a string of clues, but that Dutroux had been released from jail in 1992 after serving just three years of a 13-year sentence for the abduction and rape of five girls.
"There isn't anyone in Belgium who hasn't heard of these disappearances," said Charleroi mayor Paul Magnette.
"It was a tragedy of sufficiently universal scope that it must be marked for eternity."
AFP
