Israeli police ignore rape of 16-year-old, charge dad for stabbing rapist
Police in southern Israel have reportedly ignored a rape complaint by a 16-year-old girl for several months. What makes the news report more shocking is that meanwhile, the minor’s father was arrested and charged after he stabbed the alled assailant.
As per the Times of Israel, authorities denied allegations of injustice. Cops, in turn, claimed that they had been unable to identify the suspected rapist because the victim has refused to cooperate. The report said that the alleged assailant’s identity was widely known in the community. Reportedly, the police did not detain or question the man after he was released from the hospital, following him getting stabbed by the victim’s father.
The report also said that the minor was also questioned by the police as a possible accomplice to the stabbing. The minor reportedly is a student and a member of Bnei Akiva, the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. She claimed that the man attacked her, beat her, and forcibly held her down as he raped her.
Police repeatedly said that officials had immediately set up a meeting with investigators and welfare workers after the rape was reported in July. “During the meeting, the victim refused to continue with the investigation procedures and as such a decision was taken by all parties to only continue dealing with the welfare aspect,” the police statement said.
The police statement added that when she was again called in for questioning after the stabbing, there were “serious discrepancies in her testimony and she refused to answer other questions so that we could not certify the identity of the attacker.”
Back in August, a teenage girl was allegedly gang-raped by dozens of men at a hotel in Israel. The 16-year-old, who was intoxicated, was reportedly filmed as she was sexually assaulted at a resort in the coastal town of Eilat. “This is shocking, there is no other word. This is not only a crime against the girl, this is a crime against humanity itself that is worthy of all condemnation,” former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the incident.
As per reports, the teen had gone out drinking with friends in Eilat before ending up at the hotel, where she used a bathroom. She was allegedly then taken to a hotel room and repeatedly raped. In September, the State Prosecutor’s Office reportedly filed 11 indictments in the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl in the Red Sea Hotel. Four were charged with rape, and the rest with indecent acts, failure to prevent a crime, and abetting sexual intercourse. The indictments were filed against three adults and eight minors.
Local media previously reported that up to 30 people were involved in the alleged incident involving the 16-year-old girl in a hotel room. Multiple protests were held in August in support of the teenager and against sexual violence, while many in Israel also staged a mass walkout from workplaces.
“I hope this will be a gamechanger,” said Orit Sulitzeanu, the director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel. “This is a big thing that never happened before, and we really feel the public support is strong.” According to the association, 84 percent of sexual offense cases in Israel are dropped without charges being brought. The vast majority of sexual assaults go unreported, with just ten percent of people who contact the organization deciding to go to the police.
1 comment:
Something is wrong in Israel. This may be a spreading cultural problem.
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