Forced To Eat Live Eels & Mice- Fraternity Pledge Tortured To Death For 48 Hours

Barabing, baraboo. December 2018, 20-year-old Sande Diao was brought into. the emergency room by a few of his um. his college friends. I don't know if. we're going to call them college. friends, but just think of it like that. right now. He was unconscious. All the. color in Sande's face had drained from. his body and he felt cold to the touch. He was unresponsive and the doctors are. confused. Like this is an otherwise. healthy, active young man who had no. indications of any sort of pre-existing.

medical condition and now this. 20-year-old is laying here with a body. temperature of only 80° Fahrenheit or. 20° C. A healthy body ranges around 97 to 99°. Fahrenheit. This is a huge difference. It was also showing that he had. hypernatremia. So, this is when there's an excessive. amount of sodium in the body. The FDA suggests an average American. adult consumes about 2,300 mg of salt a.

day. Sande's body was reflecting as if. he had consumed 160,000. mg of sodium. That is over 2 months of. the average sodium intake that it seemed. like he had consumed in one day. You don't do that by eating a ton of. fast food, by eating something salty. That's poisoning, right? Yes. It didn't make sense. The doctors and. medical professionals tried to ask these. so-called college friends, "What.

happened to Sande? What was wrong with. him? Like what How did you guys find. him? How did you guys get him here? What. was he doing prior to knocking out?". They all just kind of shrugged. They all. looked the other way or said things. along the lines of, "We don't really. know. We think he's drunk. We We don't really. know what's wrong, okay?". Something was clearly very wrong though. Despite all the life-saving attempts by. medical staff, 20-year-old Sande Diao. would die of multiple organ failure. When the hospital performed an autopsy. to figure out what could have been the.

issue, what could have been the cause of. such a healthy college student's sudden. death, they were shocked. So, it's customary to go through the. stomach contents during an autopsy. It. It reveals a lot, you know, the last. time when someone ate can be told by the. stomach contents or the amount of acid. there is. What they ate can even be. determined if maybe there was something. ingested that could have led to their. fatality, all of these things. I don't think anything could have. prepared the doctors for what they were. about to find.

Inside of Sunda Dia's stomach, they. found that he had been starved of food. and water for the past 2 days. But, instead in his stomach, there were. goldfish. Not the snack. The actual fish, like the. pet goldfish swallowed whole. Oh my goodness. Decapitated mice heads swallowed whole. And decapitated eel heads, you know, like the eels that swim in the ocean or. fresh water. Eel heads decapitated.

It was clear to doctors that Sunda had. gone through something very horrible. before his death. He had been tortured by 18 fraternity. brothers from the most prestigious. school in the entire country. He was being hazed. He was trying to join a fraternity and. he died during the initiation process. And for nearly 5 years, 18 fraternity. brothers held meetings with their. powerful families and attorneys. They. cleaned up the evidence, they covered. their tracks, they stayed hush-hush.

about what happened leading up to. Sunda's death, and for nearly 5 years, they were able to keep it somewhat a. secret. Till it all started coming to light and. it exposed one of the most heinous, sadistic fraternity hazing initiations I. have ever researched in my life. Pledges were forced to bite off the. heads of live mice and eels, swallow. them whole, chug glasses of other. people's urine, swallow live goldfish, drink fish sauce.

Do you know fish sauce? It's like soy. sauce. They were forced to defecate and urinate. on each other. They were forced into. graves filled with ice water and eels. All these very well-thought-out actions. of 18 college students would lead to a. bright college student's death. And they would basically get away with. it. So, let's get into today's case.

As always, full show notes are available. at rottenmango podcast.com. But, um last month, June of 2023, a. YouTuber by the name of Acid posted a. video that got him banned from the. platform for like a week so. It's making me a little nervous, but his. video has since been taken down, but the.

damage was essentially done. He started. a social media carnage, if you will, and. I I'm not even mad about it. Acid posted. a video about the killing of Sanda Dia. from 2018. And in the video, he released. some of the names of some of the. perpetrators involved. He essentially. docs them, and that's why the video was. taken down, but the impact was already. done. Acid is considered one of the. largest Dutch-speaking YouTubers in all. of Belgium, where this case takes place. So, his audience is pretty big. And when. he dropped this video, this case starts.

getting massive attention, and even. after the video is taken down, people. have downloaded it, reposted clips of. it, reshared it on TikTok, Facebook, all. these other platforms. They've linked. articles, journalists got involved, and. this is how Sanda's case became. international news recently. There were conversations about racism in. Belgium and really everywhere else in. the world. Conversations about colleges. hiding and burying students disgusting. secrets. Conversations about how rich. kids can seemingly get away with. anything. And it thrust a certain.

fraternity into the spotlight. Reuzegom. I think I'm saying that right. It's. spelled with a G, but I think it's. pronounced H, right? Reuzegom was. founded 77 years ago. And their emblem. is like this Flemish lion. I'm sorry, but when I look at their emblem, it's. like very Harry Potter Slytherin vibes. Their colors are green and white. They've got a Flemish lion and most of. the fraternity members, so it's an. all-male secret society basically. Their. members that are students of law,

engineering, business. So, these are. very established people from established. families. This fraternity in particular quickly. became one of the most sought-after. fraternities of the entire university. What's the university? It is the number. one university in Belgium. It's KU. Leuven. And this is like one of the most. prestigious universities in all of. Belgium. So, this is like a top school. And this fraternity inside Leuven was. one of the top fraternities. Everyone. wanted to be a part of. They were.

incredibly exclusive. Every year they. would only accept maybe two to three new. members. And they really honed in on the. secret society aspect of the fraternity. I mean, there were so many rumors about. them. There were rumors about how. extreme they took their hazing. But I. think at the time, at the school, it. only added to the intrigue. It only made. them more mysterious and more. sought-after. Like this larger-than-life. reputation. Because none of them would speak on. truly all the hazing that they went.

through. But you just you almost It's. almost like the badge of honor that they. wore. You have no idea and that makes you more. intrigued. Most members also came from elite. families that had power and influence, which added to the exclusiveness of the. fraternity. It felt less like a. fraternity and truly more like a secret. society of all the rich, powerful kids. at this particular school. Do people know who's in there or not. really? Um everyone at the on campus? Yeah. Yes. Oh, okay. Yes. So, it's the type of. fraternity, here's my opinion on it. I.

think that everyone might [ __ ] on this. type of fraternity and talk [ __ ] about. them and be like, "Oh, what a bunch of. weirdos." But, maybe maybe if they. personally invited you to a party, you. might get a little bit excited or like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe they even. know me, right?" Kind of that energy. But, because of this YouTube video that. was posted by Acid, and this is a case. that happened in 2018, a lot of the. secrets of the fraternity were slowly. exposed. A few secrets had been laid to. rest, had been dug back up by Acid. In.

2013, an animal rights group by the name. of Gaia lodged a complaint against the. fraternity. A video had been leaked in which the. fraternity brothers had filmed. themselves killing and abusing a baby. piglet as part of the hazing ceremony. A baby pig. Instead of formally charging them, the. university covered for the fraternity by. putting together a document called the. Hazing Charter. It's so unserious. The. school admin put together a document. that just said, "Please agree to abstain. from violence, racism, extortion,

bullying, sexual assault, and. discrimination, and using animals during. hazing." Ooh, these are all illegal actions. Why are. they even like okay to do at the. beginning? It's like, "Please don't kill. people during hazing, please." I know. you already did, but here's something. I I. I think. Yeah. So, they just made this. document and had all the fraternities. and sororities on campus sign it. And I. know what you're thinking, okay? Okay, so Rism signed it and then turned around. and went back to hazing people with. piglets, right? They didn't even sign.

it. They refused to sign it. They basically told the school, "Thanks. for covering for us, but we're going to. do what we want." And the university. took no further action, made no further. attempts to make hazing safer for humans. and or for the animals. And soon the. whole thing was forgotten. Meanwhile, the fraternity got right back. into it. A recent document showed that. their annual initiation, they created a. food menu for the pledges. This is what it reads. Appetizers, grasshoppers and cockroaches. Main. course, live mice and fish. Dessert,

coffee and cocaine. And that's not all. A creepy photo was released of the. fraternity and it's it's horror level. It appears to be the fraternity members. after a hazing ceremony in the forest. and they're all dressed in suits and. trench coats and these thick coats that. are long. There's four pledges, so these. are the four people getting initiated, that are in the photo. Two of them are. on the floor on all fours in just in the. woods. The other two are on their knees.

One has a gun pushed into his temple and. the other one has a rifle pointed at. him. It's like horror level photo. What? And that picture left everyone wondering. what kind of hazing rituals was the. secret society doing? Like what kind of. dark things was this fraternity involved. in? What really happened behind closed. doors in Reuzem, where most members had. parents who were politicians, lawyers, doctors and CEOs? How far would these. parents go to protect their kids if. something happened inside this. fraternity?

Sanda Dia wasn't really the type to join. a fraternity and I'm going to explain. why later, but not that anything is. typically wrong with fraternities, but. we're going to get there. Sanda was born. in Belgium and since the day he was. born, like many immigrant parents, Sanda knew that he just had this. privilege of even being born in Belgium. Like even being born in this country to. him was a privilege. Sanda's dad was. from Senegal and he was actually a. refugee who sought asylum in Belgium. just a few years before Sanda was born.

And like so many immigrant fathers, he. had given up practically everything for. his two sons to have this better life. And he knew that black Belgians, they. just don't get as much opportunities as. their white counterparts. And just to get the same level of. respect, treatment, and career. advancements, he knew that his sons. would have to work twice as hard just. because they were black. So, ever since they were born, hard work. is like ingrained in them. It's like in. their DNA from the minute that they took. their first breath.

So, when they were kids, Mr. Dia, the. father, he would work all day long in. the local factory. He would spend his. nights learning the local language. Any. amount of spare time he found in. between, he would sacrifice sleep to. stay up with his sons while they did. their homework. And you know, I think it's ingrained in. immigrant parents to want to sit their. kids down constantly and say things. like, "Do you know what I had to go. through? Do you even appreciate what. kind of blessings you have? How. privileged you are, right?" Mr. Dia. didn't really have to do that with his.

sons. They seem to kind of already know. They didn't really take anything for. granted. And all he wanted was for Sanda. to dream big and achieve everything that. he ever wanted. And Sanda was on track. Ever since he was young, he was. constantly thinking of like new things. he wanted to do, new projects, endeavors, challenges that he wanted to. tackle. When he was in kindergarten, he made this best friend, uh Ferry, and. they were like lifelong friends. They. lived about 5 minutes away from each.

other, and they were practically glued. at the hip. Everyone in their. neighborhood would just hear excited. talking, laughing, and then see this. like blur of motion zip past them. And. when they look to the right, there goes. Sanda and Ferry again, goofing around on. their little bikes. They would. constantly talk about how they're going. to make their own video games one day, how they're going to Oh, they loved. manga. So, they would ride around on. their bikes and talk about how they were. going to go to university, get a good. job, save up all their money, and move. to Japan one day. And they would swear pinky swear to each.

other that they would be best friends. forever and make it to Japan. Sander. would never make it to Japan. But he did make a lot of friends growing. up. He's very ambitious and smart, goofy. I. know it sounds really cliché, but he was. just kind of like um like a natural at. everything he did. You could be solving. this impossible math problem and he. would walk in, sit down, and within 2. seconds solve the problem with you. It almost didn't seem fair for someone. to be so good at everything. On his. first time playing soccer with his.

friends, they were shocked. They're. like, "What do you mean you've never. played soccer before? How are you so. good? There's no way. You're lying to. us. You're hustling us." Whatever he. did, he just seemed so naturally good at. it, which is the exact type of person. that people want to hate. People don't. like perfect people. Too kind, too. smart, too ambitious, too funny. But. it's just really hard to hate Sander. Those who knew him said, "You have one. conversation with him and. you just want to be his best friend." He. just gets people. He gets how they.

think. He knows how to find common. ground. He knows how to make people feel. safe and unjudged and comfortable. It's like you know when you're part of a. big group and maybe for some reason. they're all poking fun at you. "Why is. your voice so squeaky? Why do you talk. like that? Oh gosh, you have a valley. girl accent.". Sander would be the type to not even. smile and look straight at you. Look you. in the eye and say, "I really like your voice.". He was just so magnetic, you know? That's the best way people describe him.

After high school, Sander was admitted. into the prestigious University of. Leuven. To give you context on how. impressive this is, Sander would be the. first member of his family to attend. university and he was going to attend. one of the most prestigious universities. in the country. His family was beyond proud. Mr. De. Azeredo. it was an absolute dream for me. Yeah. The school was about 30 minutes away. from home, but Sanda chose to dorm and. he started doing his studies. He chose.

civil engineering. And by 2018, he was in his third year of. a 5-year program to receive both his. bachelor's and his master's in civil. engineering. I think Sanda put a lot of pressure on. himself. Like yes, I think his dad. pushed him, but I think for Sanda, he. was really mature for his age and I. think that most of us find out later, oh, you know, wow, being able in a. country like this is actually a huge. privilege. I think that Sanda realized. that when he was a kid. So, he put in the work. He wanted to. make his dad proud. He didn't want to.

waste this opportunity that he had. He wanted to be the one to retire his. dad and to tell him that everything had. worked out because of everything he had. sacrificed. So, now that he's in his third year of, you know, university, the idea of. getting a job after he graduates is just. looming over his head. He's not even. spending his time partying. He's just. thinking about, okay, in 2 years, I'm. going to graduate and I need to find a. job and I need to be able to pay the. bills and I got to do all of these. things. And he thinks to himself, maybe I should. join a fraternity. Okay, I know a lot of people join.

fraternities because they want a sense. of community. Or let's be real, you know, sometimes. it's the prestige or the partying, the. legacy, the friendships, the social. life, the exclusivity. And I'm sure Sanda wanted a little bit. of that too, but he's thinking very. practically. He has the grades, he has. the social skills, he has the work. ethic, but he's going to be a black man. entering into an industry that is still. predominantly controlled by white men. White men that were all connected to. each other somehow. So, Sanda wanted and as a black man, he.

almost needed that kind of network. Cuz, you know, we live in a world where. it's not really just about merit. It's. also largely about who you're connected. to. It was no secret that many students in. the Rism fraternity came from very. high-profile families and elite. backgrounds. Some of Sande's friends, they were kind of shocked when he told. them that he would be rushing, which is. like applying to be part of a. fraternity. A lot of them were confused, you know? And something that I found. interesting, and I'm not sure if it's. different in Belgium, but he's joining.

as a third year and not as a first year, which makes me believe is yes, maybe he. wanted all the other cool things that. came along with being a part of a. fraternity, but it really does seem like. he did it for the networking aspect. He's like, "In 2 years, I'm going to. graduate and I need a network.". So, third year into university, he's. like, "Okay, maybe it's time for me to. join a fraternity.". Sande's older brother said, "Clubs like that have its benefits. Being in a club like that, if you know. them, it's really good for your network, and when you leave school, these types.

of people will trust you a lot faster.". Another black student stated, "Some people think it's stupid to join a. fraternity and go through the hazing. period, but for a lot of black people, it's very understandable.". So, I think this is um some nuance. that's needed for this case. There, yeah, I'm sure he just wanted to be a. part of a fraternity, as well. But, I. think for him being a black man, that networking power meant so much more. to him. It was so much more necessary. The sentiment being for black university.

students, networking means more than. just having frat parties on the. weekends. It could make or break their. careers after school. Remember Sande's best friend, Ferry? He. was kind of surprised when Sande told. him he was rushing. And side note, Ferry. himself was not a huge fan of. fraternities. Like, he had a whole. stigma about them. And he always like, "You know what, Sande? You're the type. of person that you don't need to join a. fraternity. You are such a people. person. You can make so many connections. on your own, in school, after school. I. mean, you're so friendly, you're so.

charismatic. Why do you need a. fraternity?". But, when Sande explained to him all the. reasons that it made sense for his. career, Ferry was like, "Okay, it's. actually kind of smart. Like, I get it. It's not this impulsive thing. You just. woke up and you wanted to join a. fraternity. You've put thought into it. In 2018, Saunder was one of 10 new. students who rushed or attempted to join. Rhythm. And out of the 10, just three. made it to the final stages of the quote. recruitment process. A total of three pledges, if you will.

Saunder and the two other pledges that. are just known by their initials were. the three. Now, I think at this point. they were just weeding out the ones that. they didn't think would be a good fit. They were getting to know the 10 people, see if their interests, personalities, ability to socialize, all these things. were a match. And now they narrowed it. down to three. And now the hazing. begins. And side note, the definition of hazing. is the practice of putting someone in. physical or emotional distress as some. sort of initiation test.

The hazing would happen over the course. of a few months. I know. So, every fraternity is. different. In the states, I believe it's. two weeks of hazing. But, uh, here it is like months, two months, basically. And then it would all lead to this. climactic weekend, which is like. initiation weekend, where they have this. big ceremony for two, three days. straight, and you're just getting hazed. the entire weekend. No stops, no breaks, no going home to sleep it off. You are. just at the mercy of the fraternity that. you want to join. And Saunder knew that he would be hazed.

He went in thinking what everybody else. was thinking. Okay, it's going to be. uncomfortable. This is not going to be a. good time. You are expected to drink. alcohol, probably be pushed to your. limits in some sort of sense or another, but nobody goes into this expecting to. lose their life. Saunder spoke to his friend Rob on. campus, and Rob had rushed for another. fraternity, and he was calming Saunder. down. Like, "You know, it's not that. bad. Like, I obviously can't tell you. what my fraternity did, cuz that's a. secret, but it's not that bad. It's like.

run-of-the-mill mental fortitude stuff, you know? They just want to see how. disciplined you are, how much conviction. you have in the fraternity. It's going. to suck. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's going to suck for a little bit, but. it's going to be worth it once you're. initiated. Sonda hated it. He hated the parties, which were all mandatory. Allegedly, Sonda was made to drink large. amounts of alcohol and then drink the. urine of the members of the frat as some. sort of test. And if that kind of abuse wasn't bad. enough, Sonda was also verbally abused.

and emotionally abused through racist. remarks. On one occasion, in October of 2018, only 2 months before the hazing ceremony. that resulted in Sonda's death, the. fraternity was hosting something that. they call a cantus. And according to sources, it's like a. traditional activity where there's a. huge amount of alcohol and people get. together where they played games, sing. traditional songs, and drink beers. It's. like a big party, honestly. So, this specific cantus was held on. October 8th, 2018 at this student. association building that was now turned.

into a rentable party room named. Albatros. And the pledges were forced to attend as. usual. This fraternity is a rather rowdy party. Like they're they're crazy crowd. Everyone's getting black out drunk. The. pledges were forced to get down on their. knees, and the fraternity brothers would. pour hard liquor down their throats. On a normal evening, the pledges would. be forced to down seven pints of beer. individually. Pints, not glasses.

And I mean, just even think about the. carbonation itself. Just think about. like seven pints of sparkling water. And once everyone was beyond drunk, everyone was done partying, the pledges. would be forced to clean up after the. party while they can barely stand. because of how they were forced to be so. drunk. They're basically throwing up, cleaning up their vomit, throwing up. again, and then. Imagine how badly you just want to go to. sleep. The room is spinning. You feel. horrendous, you feel like [ __ ] and. you're being screamed at to hurry up and. finish cleaning. Normally, all three pledges were forced.

to clean, but on this particular. evening, the fraternity brothers had a. different idea. They decided on a whim. Sanda should be the only one to clean. An employee of the party room, who was. also a fellow student, overheard the. conversations and it was reported. The fraternity brothers turned to Sanda. and started calling him. racial slurs with the hard R. They also said, and I quote, "Black. people should work for the white.".

And the employee remembered calling out. to Sanda and saying, "Dude, you can't. let yourself be talked to like that.". And all Sanda could respond was, "I. can't do anything about it right now.". Reportedly, the employee tried to tell. the boys off, but he was just one guy. facing off. against 20 rich, entitled, powerful, racist men. Honestly, the scariest type of person. out there. The fraternity brothers weren't even. slightly embarrassed. They weren't even. sorry for what they just said. It was so.

clear to the employee that they feared. nobody. These are things that they're. saying and doing in public. They have no. shame. They believe that they were above. everything and everyone. They responded. to the employee saying, "Yeah, well, mind your own damn business.". So, imagine Sanda is desperately doing. his best to be accepted because of his. future. He's wasted because the boys. forced him to drink seven pints of beer, and now he has to clean up after all of. them while they shout slurs and. derogatory remarks at him. And he's only. 20 years old. He's really still just a.

child. And despite this horrific incident, Sanda continued to attend the frat party. nights and continued to rush. And I know. there's going to be people out there. that are confused like, why would he. still even want to be friends with these. guys, be associated with these horrible. racist that don't even respect him? Because he worked so hard to get to. where he was. He had seen his dad give up everything. for his education. His friend said, "Sanda knew his dad did. everything for him to give him a better.

future, and he always promised to live. up to that.". Sanda knew as a black man, he would need. more than just his merit and his own. talent and skill to advance in his. career. Had he been white, he may have never. even thought to join this fraternity. Maybe he wouldn't believe he needed. extra connections on top of his. abilities. And had he been white, he might not be. dead. There is a strong racial element to this. case, which. I don't think can be ignored. So, clearly the fraternity brothers are. racist, but it goes much deeper than.

that. In these 77-plus years of RISM, the fraternity, only two members were. black or of African descent. And only one of the two is still alive. So, one of them um went through. initiation in 2015, and Sanda was the. second. Mhm. who was accepted into the hazing. Mhm. I did see some comments online about why. he joined an all-white fraternity in the. first place, because most universities. do have like more black fraternities.

that have predominantly black men in. them and stuff like that. But, I feel. like that's very victim-blamey to me. Um but, to give further context, Sanda. actually knew a few of the frat brothers. from RISM. They were part of a big group. that he would play soccer with. So, it's. not like he just randomly chose this. all-white fraternity and was like, "That. one. I want to be in that one." He was. actually acquainted with some of them. And one of his kind of friends that he. was slowly becoming closer and closer to. while they played soccer, he was like, "Hey, I'm going to be rushing for RISM.

this year.". So, Sanda's thinking, "Okay, well, if. I'm going to be rushing, I might as well. be a pledge with someone that I'm. already kind of friendly with, so we can. go through it together.". So, he chose RISM. Besides, Sanda made it this far in. initiation. He had his father's work. ethic and determination. He just wasn't. a quitter. Then the initiation weekend began. This is what the fraternity calls the. baptism. This was the final weekend of hazing, a. full weekend of the pledges being at the.

hands of the fraternity members. Whatever they already went through would. most likely pale in comparison to. everything that they would have to do. this weekend. December 4th was day one of the hazing. weekend. The first task would be initiated at. 4:00 p.m. Sanda and the other two pledges were. forced to dress up as apostles, a. reference to the fraternity's Catholic. origin. So, they're wearing like these. long white flowy robes, and um they were. sent out into the city with a bundle of.

single roses, and their mission was to. sell as many roses as possible, and. whoever sold the least would endure a. wide range of punishments. The punishments would include things. like drinking rotten milk, eating bird. food, and of course, being force-fed. copious amounts of alcohol. Sanda ended up last place for the. selling of the roses task. He sold 30. less roses than the other two initiates. And honestly, the way that they punished. him for this first task, I was imagining.

it to be bad. Like, I was imagining it. to be like, "Drink a glass of this. rotten milk. Okay, punishment over, task number two, let's go." But this was a whole new. level. Sanda was forced to drink so much. alcohol that according to one of the. brothers at the hazing, he was already. so drunk he couldn't even speak. This is after the first task. This is. only 7:00 p.m. that evening. So, only 3. hours into the hazing ceremony. I think again, this is a very nuanced. conversation, but a lot of netizens. pointed out that Sanda's skin color.

could have also factored into why he. wasn't able to sell as many roses as the. other two pledges. And now he was being punished to the. max, to the extreme for it, and they. went overboard. To the fraternity. brothers, being drunk didn't mean. anything. It didn't mean no, it didn't. mean stop. They continued hazing Sonda. Sonda couldn't even speak and the. brothers started their second round of. tests. Side note, I am conflicted on how to. reference the group, so maybe I'm just. going to call them the group going. forward. There's about 18 of them that.

are present throughout most of the. hazing. Um cuz saying brothers, even. though I'm saying fraternity brothers, makes it sound like they're brothers to. Sonda, which clearly they weren't. To. call them men, I think would be a. disservice to the real men out there. that would never do something like this. To call them boys would make it seem. like they're minors that are incapable. of making good choices. They're all. legal adults. Keep that in mind. So, I. will call them the group. And if I do. say brothers, that is in reference to. fraternity brothers. So, the group began their second round.

of tests. The pledges were forced to. their knees. This was the group's. favorite position because of how easy it. was to tilt the pledges' heads back by. pulling their hair and pouring alcohol. straight down their throats. They got the pledges on their knees and. started asking trivia questions. Now, remember the other two pledges, who were. white, have not been punished yet. And I. don't want to say that they had no. alcohol in them as I can't know for. certain, but they weren't drunk. Sonda was so drunk he could barely talk. Guess who's not going to answer the. trivia questions well.

Sonda. And if the boys got a question wrong, the group would pour gin, not beer, but. gin, hard liquor down their throats. This went on for about an hour. How quickly you get drunk on gin depends. largely on your metabolism, but I would. imagine for most people a few shots of. gin, you're feeling buzzed, you're. feeling tipsy. Or if you're like me, you're drunk. Sonda was already super drunk, so he got. most of his questions wrong. And by the. end of the second round, he had consumed.

one and a half bottles of gin. One and a half bottles. It wasn't. specified what size the bottle was, but. I'm guessing it wasn't one of those. airplane shot bottles. It's likely one. bottle was around a pint, which is about. eight shots. And this is like he has nothing in his. stomach, he hasn't eaten, just nonstop. It's not even over the course of the. whole night. At this point, Sande couldn't even walk. by himself. And according to witnesses, all the color had drained from his face.

He likely would have already thrown up a. couple of times, and he was on the verge. of dehydration and passing out. Now, what's wild to me is all of this so far. has been done in public. According to the statement made by one. of the fraternity brothers present, they. did task two, the trivia question and. the pouring of the gin down their. throats, on the pavement in front of a. cafe in the town square. What? So, they're literally hazing Sande in public. to the point that he is unable to even. stand up on his own, and nobody alerted.

the authorities, nobody did anything. It wasn't even 9:00 p.m. yet, so it's. not like 3:00 a.m. where it's just a. bunch of college kids being rowdy. Not even 9:00 p.m., and it was time for. the third task. The third task was survive the night. The pledges were dragged back to the. fraternity house, and 18 members of the. fraternity hazed them for as long as. they could. The pledges were made to. guess how many beers they could chug. without passing out. Presumably, the one. that could chug the most would be in.

first place, even though there's no first place. Like, what do you get just being more. drunk? The group started mixing hard liquor. with beer, and just. the the beer was intentional. The. pledges were already so drunk, and it. was only a matter of time that they. threw up because of the carbonation of. the beer, and straight-up alcohol. poisoning. Sande downed what is believed to be. about six to seven beers. This is. already in addition to everything that. he's already been forced to drink. earlier today. So, like the one and a. half bottles of gin, he was forced to.

drink a bit more earlier than that. So, this is a lot of alcohol. He is at this. point, from what people say, on the. verge of blacking out. I mean, I think. that he's already blacked out. Like, he's not out cold, if that makes sense, but I highly doubt that he's going to. have much recollection of these events. I think he's blacked out. Sunda had thrown up multiple times, and. now, after his seventh beer, he was. knocked out cold. All three pledges were. completely unconscious. They were. breathing, but nothing was going to wake.

them up at this state. Like, you could. be kicking them, and they would not wake. up. Unsurprisingly, the group had their finishing touches, tad. Even unconscious, the pledges couldn't. escape the torture. According to the fraternity's tradition, if someone passes out at a party, they. get urinated on. It is likely due to the fact that. passing out is seen as weak, or like, "Oh, he can't hold his liquor, blah, blah, blah, what a weenie.". So, to feel even more masculine, and.

honestly, just have this ego trip, the. members of the fraternity would stand. over the passed out pledges, and just. urinate all over them. It feels like such a power play, like, so degrading for no reason at all. One huge piece of evidence that would be. used later would be a deleted video of. members of the group urinating on Sunda, who is completely unresponsive. It was taken at 11:39 p.m. that night. At around midnight, when the can test. was finally over, they hauled the three.

limp boys and threw them onto their. respective beds. The only thing the. group did was make sure the pledges were. all laying on their side, so, you know, they didn't vomit while laying down, choke, and die. How nice of them. Besides that, the torture continued. The. group cut off chunks of the pledges'. hair and smeared the rooms with Nutella. and ketchup. The most vile thing, though, the most inhumane part of all of. this, I mean, the part that I can't even. wrap my head around, though, is after forcing the pledges to drink.

lethal amounts of alcohol and dragging. their unconscious bodies into this. trashed bedrooms, the boys taped and cut. off all the water supply. This meant that if one of the boys woke. up and attempted to get some water to. sober up and rehydrate, there was. absolutely no way they could even get a. drop of water. To me, this is beyond insane. To think. that forcing 20-year-olds to drink. multiple bottles of gin and then. depriving them of water for the next 24.

hours would not result in death. To me, that shows personally, in my opinion, this shows an incredible level of. neglect and premeditation of abuse. And I would like to remind you, this is. just day one of the hazing ceremony. And. I would also like to remind you, these. are college students from one of the. most prestigious universities in the. nation. You can't tell me they don't. know that you get dehydrated from. alcohol poisoning. Like you can't tell me that they didn't. think, oh, they're going to be.

dehydrated because they have alcohol. poisoning. Let's cut off the water. Like. that's such a random thing to cut off. water supply. Let's move on to day two. The worst has yet to come. The next day, the 5th of December of. 2018, at around 10:30 a.m., the. fraternity members were ready to. continue with the climax of the torture. ceremony. They woke up the three pledges. They gathered everyone into their cars. and they started leaving the city into a. small neighboring town.

One of the fraternity brothers, his. family owned a small cabin there, and. it's about an hour outside the city, and. it's just surrounded by a thick forest, which is perfect for hiding secrets. Before they get to the cabin, though, the group had to make multiple pit. stops. Now, keep this in mind. They. stopped at at least two different. places. They drove an hour to the cabin, and you're telling me after the events. of last night, not once did a single one. of the 18 full-grown adults say, "Hey.

guys, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe this sounds a little dangerous. Maybe we should tone it down. Maybe we. should ease off a little bit. Someone. could get really hurt.". Like not a single one of them? Not once? During one of their pit stops, they. actually ran into a professor. who was out on their day out. And let's. call her Professor B. She recognized the. group as being students from the. university and as being members of the. fraternity. And one of the pledges. seemed to be in need of help. She said. that Sounda wasn't behaving normally.

The other two pledges were fine, but. Sounda seemed extremely out of it, kind. of like a zombie, like he wasn't fully. present. He could barely walk on his. own. And she approached them and asked if. everything was okay. She looked at Sounda and she was alarmed. enough that she straight-up told the. group, "I'm going to call the police.". Wow. But they all turned on their charm. and said, "Professor B, like the hazing. ceremony is almost done. He's just a bit. drunk and shocked, but we're going to go. celebrate now and we're going to sober.

him up. He just needs a cold bath.". The group completely dismissed her and. ignored her concerns, even though Sounda. could barely walk. He had to be. supported by other frat members to even. move around. So, Professor B does nothing and at this. point the group is like, "Oh, maybe we. should split up into two groups because. people really think that Sounda's going. to die or something.". So, one group continued their way to the. cabin, taking the three pledges with. them, and the other group made their way. to run the rest of the errands.

What kind of errand? Do we know? They. went to a pet store to buy fish, live goldfish, eels, live eels, bird food, cakes, live mice, cat food, dog food. After that, they went to a foreign. supermarket where they bought, knowingly or unknowingly, they bought. the murder weapon. A gallon of fish sauce. Fish sauce is often used in Asian. cuisine and it's to put it simply it's.

similar to soy sauce but it's not, okay? It's not you cannot replace soy sauce. with fish sauce and vice versa but the. general concept is the same. If you want. to get technical with it, it's kind of. an ingredient that you don't use too. much of. It's very high in sodium but it. does add this great umami flavor to a. lot of dishes. The sodium aspect is very. important in today's case so let me give. you some context. People when they use soy sauce or fish. sauce, you don't use a lot. It's like. tiny bit. It's almost how you would. season things with salt. You use a.

little bit and adds that umph. One. tablespoon of fish sauce has about 1,670. mg of sodium which is about 70% of the. recommended daily sodium intake. One. tablespoon. But again, fish sauce is not something. that you sip or drink. You use it. sparingly to season dishes. You're not. putting in a lot. They bought a gallon-size bottle of fish. sauce. This would last an Asian home. months. This is like Asian restaurant. style level. Gallon-size? That's crazy.

Yeah. They bought duck eggs, sardines, baby. clams, shrimp paste, mussels and a bunch. of other things and after their shopping. spree, the remaining members joined the. others at the cabin at around 12:00 p.m. And once they arrive, the hazing. activities immediately began. The. initiates were made to dig three pits. into the ground. One each right next to each other until. they formed so they're like basically. digging their own graves. And then in the end they were forced to. dig the graves together so it's one big.

ditch. Yeah. And that text messages were shared. between fraternity members' phones and. one frat member who wasn't present at. the cabin texted, "Hey, how's it going. over there, guys? Updates?". To which a fraternity brother responded, "Newcomers are starting to shovel. Sanda. is already for the trash." Meaning like. he's already for the rubbish bin. That's. a figure of speech saying he's trashed. Mhm. Like he's not doing well. Is that what. it is?

The other two are still okay. So, let's get into what happened the. rest of the day before Sanda ended up in. the emergency room. This is the story. that police have pieced together with. deleted videos and very limited. evidence. Unfortunately, I don't think. that we will ever know the full truth of. what went down in that forest. For hours, the three initiates were. ordered into the now one giant ditch as. they huddled together to stay warm. The. other fraternity members, a total of 18. young adult men, stood around the ditch. and filled it with ice, water, and live.

eels. This is December in Belgium. The. temperatures were easily 30 to 40°. Fahrenheit. This is so reckless and so incredibly. dangerous. You cannot tell me that there. like. there's premeditation involved. You. cannot tell me that this is just hazing. But don't worry, the group was smart. enough to know that the pledges would. eventually need warmth. So, what do they. do? If you were cold, they would urinate. on the pledges to keep them warm.

Sanda at this point was so dehydrated. and still drunk from last night. Even if. he wanted to get up and walk away, he. physically could not. There was a recovered video of Sanda. lying in a ditch and it's unclear when. this day was, but fraternity members can. be heard saying, "Sanda, come on. Sanda, try and use those legs, those feet. Come. on, move, man.". The boys are asking him to stand, but he. is so unconscious that two of the group. are trying to get him up. He is not. capable of even standing up on his own. I can't imagine that they didn't already.

know that he couldn't quit even if he. wanted to. He couldn't say he couldn't. do this anymore. It was reported that the official way. out of the hazing ceremony and. forfeiting your spot in the fraternity, you would have to ring a bell that would. be off to the side of the ditch or on. the side during all these hazing tasks. Members of the fraternity stated, "Traditionally, during it, we set up the. bells next to the water holes so that. they can ring them at any point if they. can't take it any longer.". Whoever was in charge of setting up the. bell allegedly forgot the bell.

So, for Sonda, there was no physical. identifiers of freedom, escape. There. was no way out. There was no way he. could physically get up. Nobody was. listening to him. It was chaos. No, he. couldn't even speak well. There wasn't. even a bell that he could try and reach. for to symbolize. "Guys, I'm not okay.". Everyone knew that he was not okay. And he was at the mercy of 18 fraternity. brothers. And for hours, he was tortured. in that ditch until the sun began to. set. The theorized events seem to suggest.

this. Once the pledges were in their ice-cold. baths, a question game began. If pledges got the answer correct, they. would be rewarded with a sip of water or. a Gatorade or an energy drink to get. them pumping. However, if they got it. wrong, they would have to eat or drink. something disgusting. It's not clear. exactly what Sonda consumed during this. part of the hazing task, but from later. records, for the most part, they were. forcing him to consume large amounts of. fish sauce and their urine. Some reports say semen was also. involved.

Yeah. Back to the hazing. After that, reportedly, the fraternity members took. live eels and threw them into the water, and the pledges were sitting with all. these eels that were just running around. them. They yelled at the pledges to. catch the eels with their bare hands and. then bite their heads off and swallow. the decapitated heads. It is said all three pledges made it. through that task. Hours passed by, and at the time 7:00. p.m. came around, they had been sitting. in the freezing temperatures for over 6.

hours. The group wasn't even close to. being done. The next task involved. goldfish, live goldfish. The task was to. swallow the live goldfish whole, alive, then drink a ton of fish sauce and. attempt to throw up the goldfish whole. It is known that super salty things and. super disgusting things can make you gag. and throw up if you're repulsed enough. So, the other two pledges, they were. able to throw up and produce their whole. goldfish, like bring it back out of. their stomach. The only one left with.

Sonda, and instead of the fraternity. brothers letting it go, they made him. continue drinking fish sauce. At this point, Sonda was throwing up. repeatedly, but every time there was no. goldfish. So, need I remind you, he's. not winning the question games, he. hasn't had probably a sip of water in. the past 24 hours, he's beyond drunk, dehydrated, throwing up, which leads to. further dehydration, and being forced to. consume copious amounts of fish sauce,

which the sodium count on that, it's not. even a drink. You're not even supposed. to consume it like that. It's like being forced to consume. tablespoons of just salt straight up. You can't tell me. that no one thought that that's. dangerous. You can't tell me that these. are just boys being boys, and they. didn't know how far this was going to. go. You just can't tell me that. I think in. middle school, I would have put two and. two together. I think anyone capable of reading a. nutrition label and realizing, "Oh,

that is quite a bit of sodium." Right? Especially these university students. I. think even without the nutrition label, the scent of fish sauce alone indicates. that this is high in sodium. The fact of the matter is, they knew what they were doing. I mean, that's my personal opinion. They turned. off the water, they're they were giving. out water as prizes. Sips of water were. prizes. That suggests to me that they know the. pledges are incredibly dehydrated. On top of these tasks of vile.

mutilations of live animals and. torturous conditions for the three. pledges. The senior members were also. kicking them in the back, harassing. them, and of course, urinating on them. Later, a deleted video uncovered by. forensic text during the investigation. would show that one of the members had. actually defecated on one of the. pledges. It is unclear who it was. It is unclear. if they defecated into the pit or they. actually physically defecated on the. pledge. But either way,

what? This went on the entire day till the sun. set, and the next phase of tasks would. proceed. The pledges had not consumed anything. but alcohol and mutilated pets. Reportedly, one of the pledges, not the. sober brothers, the pledges tried to. give Sanda a soda so he could ideally. get his blood sugar up and hopefully. muster up some energy. A senior fraternity member stopped him. and said, "That's against the rules.". The next phase included serving each.

pledge their first meal, one sausage. each. However, each sausage was coated. in toothpaste. And they were forced to eat this and. endure 10 more buckets of ice water. thrown at them in the pit, as well as a. firework that had been thrown into the. pit where the pledges were sitting in. the urine-feces-covered water. It was around this time the other two. pledges, again, not the brothers, pledges, the ones that were also being. tortured, stepped in to check on and.

Sanda. He was barely conscious. They pulled his. body out of the pit next to the. campfire, and Sanda was cold to the. touch. I mean, any warmth was completely. devoid as his skin was all pale. The two pledges and a few senior members. laid him on the ground, and they changed. him so that he was in a pair of dry. clothes. They were the first to. intervene at Sanda's rough state. The other pledges put him on a plastic. trash bag, kind of like a tarp, and. moved him to one of the cards where they. turned on the heater. But they only kept him in there for so.

long. They moved him back next to the. campfire, possibly because it was easier. to get warmer faster next to a fire. What were the other fraternity brothers. doing? Like the 18 brothers, the sober. ones? They would actually take pictures. of Sonda while he was unconscious. A recovered photo later would show Sonda. lying in the weeds completely passed out. and in a fetal position. Meanwhile, the senior brothers took it. upon themselves to begin the next task. in the hazing. They're not done.

The pledges were allegedly forced to. bite off the heads of live mice and. swallow them. So, while the senior. members are preparing for this next. round of hazing tasks, a couple more of. the brothers began to notice how bad of. a state Sonda was in. So, they finished the little live mice. thing and Sonda was still ice cold. His. face was pale and now he was like. completely unresponsive. There was no. way he was even responding to anything. they're saying. They made Sonda do the. mice? Yeah. This was when 20-year-old Sonda Dia. began to make very horrible noises. He.

was groaning in pain. Like, it was slow. It was torturous, whatever he was. feeling on the inside. So, what happens. when you take a lot of sodium? It's not. just your tummy hurts or you're in. desperate need of water. Your brain starts to swell. And the pressure in your skull feels. like it's going to explode. And that's actually what kills you when. you overdose on sodium. It's not because. your stomach is like, "Ooh, ouchy, so. much sodium.". Your brain pressure literally your.

brain's going to shut down. Imagine if someone is taking like a. helium tank and just inserting it into. your ears and turning it up. Imagine the. pressure that would cause. Your organs The rest of your organs are. starting to shut down. Your brain is. starting to shut down. He was clearly in a lot of pain. And at 8:57 p.m. on the 5th of December, one of the senior fraternity members. finally called emergency services. Dispatch confirmed, "Yeah, you should. probably take him to the hospital if.

he's unresponsive.".

"Okay, our friend's just kind of laying. here, gurgling, and he's not making any. noises.". Which makes it seem like they took. action, right? But it's important to. note that it was two hours in between. Sunny being unresponsive that they. finally took him to the emergency room. Reportedly, he was also bleeding from. his mouth and nose. Probably due to the pressure.

They carried him to the car to transport. him, and. reportedly, they threw his unconscious. body into the trunk. The trunk. Not the passenger seat where the heaters. could help warm him up. They didn't put him in the back seat or. laid him across their laps. Nowhere where he could get warm. Nowhere where they could keep an eye on. him to make sure that he's not choking. or stops breathing. I mean, isn't that what good friends do? Like,

isn't that what good people do? Let alone a friend, let alone someone. you know. I imagine if I saw a stranger in that. state, I would not put them in the. trunk. Who puts anyone in the trunk except. serial killers? Like, who. Yeah. Yeah. It's so and this is this. part really gets to me because later in. the trial they these. monsters keep crying and saying, "We're. so sad our friend died.". You put your friend in the trunk.

If that's the type of person you. consider a friend, like who are you? You're a horrible person. I don't even. know what to say. On the drive to the hospital, the boys. in the car with Sanda in the trunk had. reportedly been talking about the final. stages of the hazing and how they would. continue once he got out of the. hospital. At 9:15 p.m. the group finally arrived. Sanda Dia was pulled out of the trunk. and handed off to emergency medical. staff at the doors of the ER. He would. never make it out alive. Because medical staff didn't know. exactly what happened and can't read.

minds and they can only function and. work to treat symptoms in situations. that you inform them of, the group just. dropped him off and didn't let them know. about anything. Didn't let them know. about the hazing, the alcohol, the lack. of water, the raw meat in his stomach, not the cups and cups of fish sauce. Nothing. Sanda Dia didn't even stand a. chance. Without the extra information from the. frat members, doctors had no idea about. the things that he had consumed. Had the fraternity members told them, maybe Sanda would have a chance. Maybe. they would realize it was sodium.

The only things in Sanda's bloodstream. were. hard liquor. and salt. That was it. Like literally that's it. There was literally nothing else in his. system. Within 45 minutes, Sanda was transferred. to the University Hospital of Antwerp, where it was a bigger, better equipped. hospital. And this was when the doctors. finally discovered the extremely high. salt content in his bloodstream. They. also discovered that Sanda had suffered. a cardiac arrest that sent him into a.

coma. But this was also when Sanda Dia, the. 20-year-old university student, went into multiple organ failure. His organs were shutting down one by. one. His parents were alerted of the. condition and as the family rushed to be. by their son's side, the fraternity. brothers rushed out. They rushed out and. they got to cleaning. They won't clean. up after a party, but apparently they'll. clean up a crime scene. Senior members ordered the other members.

to clean up the whole cabin in the. surrounding area. This included getting. rid of all and every piece of evidence. They filled up the water holes with dirt. to cover them up. They also went back to. their frat houses to clean up the rooms. of Nutella, ketchup, that they turned on. the water supply that they had cut. When. the police went back to the campsite, they would find absolutely nothing. It. was as if nothing ever happened. They. also deleted all pictures, videos, and. messages that they had on their phones. that could be incriminating. And thankfully, these were recovered by. investigators later on.

Inside note, while Sanda was being. driven to the hospital, other fraternity. members tried to get the remaining two. pledges to finish their hazing. So, the last stage of the initiation was. for the pledges to lie naked in the. forest for a few more hours. However, at. 10:39 p.m., the other two pledges were. also hospitalized. There are very few details on what. happened to them, but we do know that. one spent about a day in there and while. the other one was held for about two. days in the hospital. They too were victims.

And then, Sanda's body could no longer. hold up. He passed away. In his last moments, he was tortured, abused, and forced to mutilate animals, and he just endured so much pain. His. parents wouldn't get to hear him say I. love you one last time. They wouldn't. get to see him smile one last time. Instead, the fraternity members had. waited so. horrifically long to take him to the ER. that he was already unresponsive and in.

a coma by the time that they arrived. At 20 years old, the bachelor and. master's first-generation university. student, Sanda Dia, passed away. A coroner's report would confirm that. toxic salt levels caused by the. excessive consumption of fish sauce was. the leading cause of his death. The hospital notified the police and an. investigation was quickly started. The. medical staff informed the parents and. the police of the group who had brought. Sanda into the ER. And according to the. police report, the Netherlands police.

arrived at the log cabin that morning, December 6th, 2018. There were no. ditches, no pits found. Nothing. The. cleanup was good. And while Sanda was fighting for his. life in the hospital, the police would. later find records of WhatsApp messages. that painted a very clear picture of all. the cleanup. People were in the group chat of the. fraternity saying things like delete. everything, clean up the dorms, turn the. water back on. Should we delete WhatsApp totally? I mean, this had to happen at some. point. We really just are wild monkeys.

with that hazing ceremony, aren't we? How can salt overdose be so brutal? That's salt? Did the parents find out. what happened? So, they seem to know that Sanda's. condition is grim and the chances of him. making it alive are low, but even then, the way that they're chatting about it. seems rather casual. Just like, yeah, they said it's salt overdose. How can. salt be that dangerous? Man, we really are just too crazy with. this hazing, aren't we? It had to happen at some point.

Thankfully, forensic science had just. absolutely skyrocketed regarding. technology. And of course, the police. were able to seize the boys' phones. throughout the investigation and pull. from these deleted photos and videos. proof of the events that had occurred. that night. And I'm going to list the. evidence piece by piece, and it's rough. Investigators were able to discover. photos with timestamps that proved that. Sanda had been laying on the ground in a. fetal position for almost 2 hours before. being taken to the emergency room. It is. unknown if Sanda would have survived had. he received treatment within these 2.

hours, but it feels like the group took. away any chance of his survival. 7 hours earlier, one of them commented. that Sanda was ready for the trash bin, which usually means they are not okay. They are beyond not okay. Investigators also found from their. interrogations that it was tradition. that at the end of the hazing ceremony, all pledges are required to prove their. loyalty to the club by sniffing a line. of white powder. They all swore it was going to be flour, but something tells me it was going to. be cocaine.

Other texts from the WhatsApp that were. publicized included, "Oh no, I'm really. going to pay for this, aren't I?". This came from the president and the. pledge master of the fraternity. Another. message expressed concern that the. parents of the other two pledges would. start a legal case against them. Other evidence revealed that Sanda fell. hard a few times head-on when he was. forced to walk. Clear indication that he suffered from. some sort of head trauma in addition to. the 2 days of torture. The police also found a disgusting video.

on one of the brothers' phones dated a. month, a month after Sanda died, a month. after. Because they weren't arrested. So a. month after Sanda died, the a few of the. brothers, the fraternity brothers, approached a black man without a home on. the street. One of the boys holds out. change as the man nods, acknowledging, like thanking them for placing the. change on his jacket that was folded on. on the ground. So he places, and then an arm reaches. out into the frame to try and grab the.

man without a home's hat off his head. They're just terrorizing a man without a. home on the street. And he kind of. dodges because what are you doing, right? And while these events are taking. place, the boys sing the lyrics, "Cut. their hands, the Congo is ours.". This is in reference to the fact that a. former king of Belgium sought out. territory in Africa. They took control. of land on the banks of the River Congo, which is present-day the Democratic. Republic of Congo. It's estimated that.

the Belgium King killed 10 to 15 million. Africans. He forced the residents to. work for free, and when they didn't meet. their daily quotas, he cut off their. hands. A month after Sanda died, this is what they're doing. to a black man on the street. This is what they're doing. to a black man in general. This is they. filmed it because they thought it was I. don't know, funny? They were proud of themselves? Does that. show intent, though? You think that's. that can use that or no?

It wasn't able to be used fully, but to. netizens, I mean, it's clear intent. You. know, I did see some people that argued, "Is race really a part of this? Is race. not a part of it?" It was a part of it. Are you kidding me right now? So, much. evidence is coming out. However, it. should be noted that the investigation. would take a long time. The group, they. were less than cooperative. So, the. police had to constantly meet their. resistance with warrants, court orders. The group had connections, and if they. didn't, they had daddy's money.

In fact, after news spread of Sanda's. death, a secret meeting was held. at the home of a father to one of the 18. men, who happened to be a. well-established, well-connected. attorney. A new kind of pact was created, a new. secret society of sorts, if you will, between the haves and the have-nots. We can never really know the. conversations held in that emergency. meeting, but we can speculate, and I. imagine that they made some sort of.

pact. They were sworn to secrecy, and. they were told, "If we do this, we can get away with. it.". I think that this story I'm about to. share gives you a clear picture on what. kind of parents we're dealing with. Some say out of remorse, some say out of. fear, some say out of sheer stupidity. In a strange pivot, there was a. conversation amongst the fraternity. members to send a letter a letter to. Sandus parents. Reportedly, the. fraternity members and some of the. parents, they wanted to at least attempt. to do one right thing by apologizing and.

telling Sandus parents that they were. also experiencing their worst nightmare. Which like, what kind of apology is. that? But the lawyer / father that seemed to. be leading this whole discussion crushed. the idea. Said that if they legally. incriminate themselves, they would. absolutely do no such thing. And the rest of the parents, instead of. thinking, "No, this is an opportunity to. really teach my kid a lesson in life.". To make them learn and I mean, I don't. think they can ever come back from this, but to try and be a good person from now. on or handle this like a good person.

would. Instead of doing that, they're. like, "Oh yeah, you're right. We don't. want to legally incriminate ourselves. Never mind.". Forget apologizing to anyone's parents. The rest of the parents in group quickly. agreed to prohibit any of them from. communicating with the police, Sandus. parents, and practically the outside. world. They also disappeared online. They disappeared from Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn. From here. on out, they would only be speaking. through their attorneys. You would think that none of that would.

matter though, because at this point a. 20-year-old bright college student died. and his autopsy exposed two days of. torture that he had and abuse that he. had experienced. You would think that. the police and the government and the. netizens, they wouldn't care about some. hush-hush meeting amongst 18 rich. families. The evidence was right there. And you would think that they would. investigate the allegations of racism. after finding out about previous racial. incidents and even after that racial. incident. And just the sheer fact that Sanda was.

one of the two black students in the. whole 77-long history of the fraternity. and he died, you would think that people. would care, right? Five years passed and somehow the 18 men. who stood by and subjected him to the. torture, to almost war crime level. torture. They continue to evade justice. And it's not like the press didn't know. about the story. News spread about the black pledge that. had died at the hands of 18 white men, but the news articles never mentioned.

race. They chalked his death up to a. horrible accident that occurred during. hazing. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the. families had a role in the framing of. the narrative of this case. Allegedly. However, the school did state that they. will be holding an internal disciplinary. hearing for the members of the incident. At first, they stated that all members, all 18 men, would be suspended from the. university. They did not do that. Instead, they replaced the suspension. with, get this, 30 hours of community.

service each. and an essay on the history of hazing. This is crazy. This is like how you. punish a kid that's skipping class. Yeah. Stole a cookie from the cookie. jar. I'd rather them not do anything at all. Like this is a slap in the face. Like. the fact that they're doing this and be. like, this is enough for someone's life. This is enough to teach them a lesson. about killing someone. Like it's a slap. in the face. The university was. essentially, "Hey, don't do that. In.

order to teach you not to be racist and. kill people, why don't you write an. essay?". The boys were allowed back to school. They were allowed to continue their. education. They were allowed to work. towards graduating. Something that they. had stolen from Sonda. Something Sonda. had worked so hard for. Essentially, it. seemed like the school was standing by. the group, which is ironic because the. university self-advertises themselves. as, "The home to a tradition of academic. excellence and ethical integrity that. serves as the backbone of everything we.

do.". Side note, did I I don't think I. mentioned this. The school actually knew. about the racial incident that hap-. happened 2 months prior to Sonda's death. in in party room. where they were calling Sanda the hard. N-word. They knew about that. A few. administrators were told by the employee. that worked there that was also a fellow. student, and they didn't do anything. about it. Yeah. Thankfully, other teachers heard of the. news, and they decided to do something. 20 university professors wrote an open. letter demanding stronger punishments.

for the group. The school said that they. would open another investigation into. the case, but the results were grim. They took like 3 years to investigate. it. Most of the members had already. graduated at this point. After 3 years, only seven of them were. still in school, and they were finally. expelled. But maybe that just goes to show how. much power these families held. Most of the parents were established. lawyers. One of the group's dad was a very. high-up judge. And many people firmly believe that the.

18 members got such light punishments. because they all came from very wealthy. and influential families. And the case. wouldn't even be seen by the court. system until the end of 2020. They even had to go to a neighboring. province for this case because the. families had so much influence in that. province. They had to be like, "Okay, there's no. way we're going to get a fair trial. We. got to go. We got to go to a different. town.". The criminal investigation of Sanda. Dia's death concluded in July 2020 with. a recommendation that the members would.

be charged with negligent homicide, humiliation, and premeditated. administration of dangerous substances. The judges have evidence of calculated. cause in many instances of racism and. inhumane treatment towards Sanda. The 18. members were now scheduled to appear in. court to finally start the trial. September 4th of 2020. However, at the. last minute, two defense attorneys filed. a request for additional investigations. They're like, "You need to investigate. our clients more.". Which is weird, right? Why would they do. that? Especially in this case, it.

doesn't make sense. It is speculated. they did this on purpose as a delay. tactic. It is important to note the. political climate in 2020. The murder of. George Floyd sparked one of the greatest. and widest spread civil rights movements. the world had seen. It's likely the. defense attorneys wanted to push the. trial off until the climate, quote, quieted down a bit. The case did not get attention in 2020. because the trial didn't happen. And. it really wouldn't get that much. international attention until 2023, like.

a month ago, after YouTuber Acid's. video. Now, in 2020, people in Belgium really. did care though. It just wasn't, um, not. that they care more now, but I think it. just wasn't spread. The story wasn't. spread. Um, a lot of people protested. #justiceforsanda. was circulating in Belgium on social. media. And a lot of Belgians were. worried that these people were so well. connected and because nothing is. happening to them and because the court.

stated that they are anonymous. throughout the entire trial, their names. have not been released, they can all. occupy positions of power in society and. in the legal system just like their. mothers and fathers. Sanda's uncle said, "This was not an. accident. They thought, he's just some. black guy. We're powerful and nothing. can happen to us. What would have. happened if Sanda were white?". Eventually, the protest died down and. everyone held their breaths hoping that. justice would be served. The trial would finally commence in.

2022, 4 years after Sanda's death, and. people were watching. They watched as all 18 men arrived at. the courthouse alongside their lawyers. They had their hoods up, hats shielding. their faces. Every one of them had face. masks on. The prosecutors pointed out that all 18. defendants were present during the. goldfish and fish sauce task. They. stated, "It is therefore strange to note. that none of the defendants questioned. the excessive administration of the fish. sauce to the pledges, who would have. been weakened and numb due to the. baptismal activities that had been done.

up to that point in the cult. The large. bottle of 4 and 1/2 L of fish sauce had. been noticed by every defendant present. today. None of those present took any. action to stop the excessive. administration of the fish sauce. However, there are a lot of infuriating. moments in the trial we got to quickly. talk about. One of the defense attorneys. stood up and they responded cuz you. know, the question was why did Sanda. Dia, one of the only black people in the. entire fraternity, why was he killed. during hazing?

And the defense attorney responded, "It. has nothing to do with color and. everything to do with physique, weight, and height." Basically blaming Sanda's. death on his own body weight and height. Another lawyer added, "My client also. wants to be clear. Sanda Dia's skin. color played no role in this file. Sanda. was one of them, one of their good. friends. They did not see his color.". One of his good friends? Do you do that to one of your good. friends? Do you throw them into the. trunks? Do you torture them for 2 days. straight, if not months?

Do you like throw racial slurs at them? Like one of your good friends, right? Another defense attorney stated, "There. was no intention to harm Sanda and my. client was unaware that the amount of. fish sauce the pledges would ingest. could be dangerous. The purpose of hazing was not to. humiliate, but to build a bond of. friendship by going through a hazing. ritual. My client now realizes that. these rituals are outdated.". Side note, um I don't know if people. care about this, but did you guys know. hazing started because of women and gay.

people? What do you mean? Oh, yeah. So, back. then when universities started having. fraternities around, they were more. focused on academics and not saying that. they're not now, but most of them were. like academic secret societies of men in. universities and it would be all the. majors kind of congregating together. So, business majors would join like a. business fraternity and they would all. just bond with each other. And then in. the '20s, 1920s, women were allowed in. college and people started more men. started flocking to fraternities because. they hated femininity taking over their.

campus. That's how they saw it. All. these women on campus were vile. This. was no longer a manly institution. So, they started going to these secret. exclusive men-only clubs, aka. fraternities, right? And they would. escape women that way. But then then. homophobia came around, and people were. like, wait, a group of men, young men. living together non-stop, hanging out. with each other, sharing secrets. together, color-coordinating their. outfits, having secret handshakes, that. sounds a bit gay to me.

So, they became obsessed with this. hypermasculinity idea, and so they. started doing hazing almost to show, hey, we're so masculine, we do these. crazy dangerous things to be even part. of this group, so we're not gay. We're. like the manliest of the men. Yeah. That's what the anthropologists have. believed. So, I mean, hear me out. It's. kind of crazy when you think about it. Like, they were so terrified of women. and then gay people. So, just food for thought. And then I think now it's just been.

grandfathered in. It's just become a. tradition that none of these I'm. I'm not saying now it's about homophobia. or about misogyny, but that's kind of. how it seems to have started. It started. around the same time. So, a lot of. anthropologists believe it's because of. that. Now, but all that aside, back to the. trial. Sandra's mother also spoke out, and she said for the past half a decade, the five years, she feels like it's on her. She wonders why he would take part in a. fraternity. She feels like maybe she. pushed him towards it unknowingly, or.

maybe she was too strict, or not strict. enough, or she just constantly guessed. every little thing that she said to him, everything that would have made him feel. like he needed to do this. The defense attorneys had little. sympathy for her. They kept arguing that. none of the defendants could have known. how dangerous fish sauce was. They said because it's readily available. in a store that. they can't be judged for it. If you can. buy it in a store, how are you supposed. to know it's dangerous?

That's literally like. of a logic is that? Yep. They also pointed out the. defendants themselves underwent the. hazing ceremony years before and they. came out with no health problems. Which. fine, but did they mention how much. Sound was forced to drink? The other two pledges weren't even. forced to drink as much. And then when those arguments grew old, the defendants cried about how they sad. they were that this happened to their. good friend. Imagine Sound's friends and. family hearing these guys get up there. and cry about how sad they were at the. loss of their friend. Sound's dad. responded, "I heard that my son was your.

friend. Everyone knows that's a lie. I'll tell. you why. Friends don't let you down.". Five years after Sound's death, the. court declared all 18 defendants guilty. On May 26, 2023, all 18 students were each found guilty. of involuntary manslaughter and. degrading treatment, but justice was not. served. Their punishments came down to. 200 hours community service. Some people. got 225, 250, or 300 hours of community.

service. That's it? Oh, and they had to pay a fine. Total. 15,000 euros to the family. What? Yeah. Yeah, and not that money makes things. better, but money is something that can. try and help. That can try and provide. therapy for Sound's family that can try. and do something. That can even just. inflict pain on some of these. influential families. But 15,000 euros. and community service, it's also not.

going to stay on their criminal records. They also can stay anonymous. That's why. the YouTuber Acid is actually facing. jail time right now for exposing their. names. No way. Yes, because legally they're allowed to. stay anonymous. And I just I just want. to make it clear the Diya family was not. fighting for money. In fact, the Dia. family even came out and said they're. not trying to be spiteful. They don't. even want all 18 of them thrown in. prison and their lives ruined. They just want the truth. They want to. know exactly what happened and why Sanda.

was the one to die. That's what they wanted. But instead, they got 200 hours of. community service, no answers, and. 15,000 euros. And again, I'm upset that. the court didn't order more damages to. be paid. It's not because the Dia family. wanted more money, but like these white, rich, elitist men were also allowed to. remain anonymous without a tainted. record, and 15,000 euros, it's. Yeah, yeah, they basically got away. Yeah. Completely. I don't The students' families have also.

fought to make sure that there's no. criminal record. I mean, I don't even. know what to say. One of the defense. attorneys, John Mayze, praised the. judges' decision as being balanced and. well-reasoned. Sanda's father would later tell a. magazine that he believed discrimination. was indeed involved. He said, "Rusgang. is an elite social club, a student club, and Sanda was someone who didn't fit. their mold. His dad didn't have a big yard or a. fancy driveway or even a house of his.

own, and Sanda just wasn't good enough. for them.". He called the ruling a slap in the face. He said Sanda did not get the respect he. deserves. The case started a conversation about. racism, class injustice, elitism, and. needless to say, there have been. national and international public. outcries about this case now. The. injustice, I mean, the social injustice, the racism, the elitism, it's vile. There were silent protests and. demonstrations across Belgium that made. its way to the Netherlands. Protesters. stated, "In Belgium, if you take the bus.

without a ticket, you get a higher fine. than that.". Another protester stated, "A man from. Antwerp was sentenced to 7 months in. prison for stealing a pair of sneakers, two bottles of whiskey, and a bottle of. cognac worth 125 euros. There was another person sentenced to 12. months in prison for stealing offerings. from churches. A 70-year-old woman was. sentenced to 1 month in prison for. stealing apples. Another protester stated, "Justice is. just not for everyone in Belgium, is.

it?" And you're saying the YouTuber is. facing jail time? Yeah. Jail time. He's facing jail time. Exactly. The question that everyone has in their. minds is how would the courts have. reacted if the situation had been. reversed? If a white upper-class student. had tragically lost their lives during a. hazing ritual inflicted by individuals. with a migrant minority background? Would they have received such a lenient. conviction? Or would they have been.

painted as these. vile animals that ripped this kid apart? Because that's what they did. And last month, after the public outcry, the Supreme Court of Justice in Belgium. is now considering launching an. investigation into whether class justice. played a part in this. Which means that. just maybe social media and the. demonstrations are going to make an. impact. Yeah, and meanwhile, YouTuber Acid is. facing 2 years in jail for even talking. about this incident and naming some of.

these perpetrators. People find it. ridiculous that if he is punished, it'll. likely be higher than what the. fraternity brothers received. Side note. crazy. Like. how do you call that justice? Like Yeah. After Acid named dropped some of the. perpetrators, the defense attorney came. out to state, "People who were not. present in the courtroom, who have not. followed the process, who have not been. there for days, who have not tasted the. emotion or have not seen the statement, they want to play judge afterwards. They. want to shout that it was an unjust.

verdict. But here we are now. We're. going to play judge ourselves and let. people know their names so that they. will be followed all their lives. Come. on. If you don't already feel so disgusted, a picture also resurfaced during all of. this. Former fraternity brothers were. dressed in the KKK outfits in 2007. And finally, with all the backlash, Reuzegom has disbanded, but I'm not sure. that that's quite fixing the problem. Many netizens feel saddened at the grim. reality of racism around the world. Many.

believe if Sanda wasn't a black student, he wouldn't have even thought to join. the fraternity. Maybe he wouldn't felt. like he needed to. And not only that, in the fraternity's. 70-year history, Sanda was the second. pledge of black or African descent. And. netizens speculated that perhaps for the. fraternity, quote, "One was enough for. them.". Because they would never have a second. official fraternity brother of color. Instead, Sanda was tortured to death for. 2 days while the 18 fraternity brothers.

subjected him to abuse. Do you remember Fary? Sanda's best friend since kindergarten? Mhm. After this, he reminisced about his life. filled with just memories of Sanda. They. were attached at the hip since they were. young, and he said, "Sanda was my best friend. He was my soulmate. And I hope that Fary makes it to Japan. And I hope that Sanda can experience it. with him in spirit just like the two. promised each other when they were. little boys.".

And that is it for today's episode. Let me know your thoughts. I mean, this. was such a heavy heavy case, and I know. a lot of people are talking about it. online. So, please, let's talk about. this case. I think this is something. that can really shape justice going. forward in Belgium and just in. university campuses around the world. And please stay safe, and I will see you. guys on Sunday for the mini so. Bye.