Police still struggling with approach to stalking 5 years after Rotterdam teen's killing

The Dutch authorities are still struggling with their approach to stalking over five years after 16-year-old Hümeyra was shot dead at her Rotterdam school by her stalker. Victims are still too often sent from pillar to post because there is no single point of contact, the Justice and Security Inspectorate said in a follow-up report on Humeyra’s murder, RTL Nieuws reports.

Bekir E., Hümeyra’s ex-boyfriend, gunned her down at her school in December 2018 after stalking and threatening her for years. Hümeyra reported him to the police multiple times, but nothing was done. E. was sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter because the prosecutor could not prove premeditation.

After her murder, the Inspectorate published a harsh report saying that the police, the Public Prosecution Service (OM), and VeiligThuis - the organization that helps victims of domestic violence - all horribly failed Hümeyra. There have been some improvements since then, but not enough, the Inspectorate said in its follow-up report.

“Some things have improved. Since 2019, stalking is better recognized. The approach has improved,” a spokesperson for the Inspectorate told RTL. “But we still see that victims are sent from pillar to post. That they have to tell their story again and again because there is not always one clear point of contact. The police and the OM do not always have a fixed point of contact for victims, which means that the communication with them still falls short.”

The Inspectorate called that very worrying. The lack of joint consultation means there is no overarching direction, information may be lost, and risks may be underestimated, the Inspectorate said in its report. “In addition, it is bad for the victim’s sense of safety. The victim is already in an extremely unsafe situation. There is a chance that this could cause the sense of safety to disappear completely.”