Belgian Man on Trial for Killing Mother, Citing Debt-Induced Suffering

Mohamed Boughaiout killed his mother, Fatima El Mezouar, aged 62, on October 20, 2017 in Liège, and had plunged her body into a stream in the village of the municipality of Stoumont, reports Belga.

Yet, according to his own words, he was his mother’s favorite. "Favorite of the siblings", he had never lacked anything. However, Mohamed’s life took a different turn after his father’s death in 2014.

Poorly educated, Mohamed had made mistakes and had been convicted several times. Upon his release from prison in 2017 under the electronic bracelet detention regime, he had undertaken training within an association and was receiving an allowance.

Over time, Mohamed’s financial situation became precarious, and he was less assiduous. He would repeatedly call on his mother to pay his expenses. Mohamed Boughaiout said he had a colossal debt to settle for many years. He did not want to specify the amount or the name of the creditor.

He also stated that his mother had not decided to stop giving him money but that she "no longer wanted to pay [his] phone". Convinced that he had become the source of his mother’s sadness and apathy, he ended her suffering by strangulation.

"I tightened the belt around her neck and it lasted between three and five minutes. She asked why, she told me she loved me and she asked me to take care of my sisters," the defendant recounted.