Rotterdam police make first arrest in decades old gang rape case

The Rotterdam police arrested a 39-year-old man in his home in the Kralingen district on Monday morning for gang-raping a woman in the city twenty years ago. It is the first arrest in a gang rape case dating from 2004. The police’s Cold Case Team reopened the case after receiving new information.

On the evening of 12 January 2004, a then-30-year-old woman and a friend got off the metro at Voorschtoerlaan station in Rotterdam. On Lusthofstraat, the friend got into an argument about money with a group of five or six men. The friend walked away, but the woman remained behind and tried to resolve the situation.

She walked with the men to Paulus Potterstraat, where the men surrounded her and one raped her. In Rozenburg Park, several other men raped her as well.

“Despite extensive police investigation, the case was not solved in 2004,” the police said. “But after new information, the case was reopened.”

Last week, the police asked the public for information on social media and programs like Opsporing Verzocht. The police also appealed to the group of men who gang-raped the woman to come forward.

All of that led to Monday morning’s arrest. The man is in custody for further investigation, and more arrests may follow.