Mika Tagapao. Brutally killed
Reproduction photo: Lilach Kadar, Kol Hadarom
2 Bedouins indicted for murder of Israeli teen girl
Rahat youngsters charged with murder of Mika Tagapao, 15, whose body was found handcuffed, scorched two months ago; according to indictment accused killed teen girl because she refused to continue seeing them
Two young Bedouin men, Ahmed Abu Mussa (24) and Muhammad Abed Alazziz el-Huzeil (27) from the town of Rahat were indicted Friday in the Beer Sheva District Court for the murder of Mika Dabab Tagapao, 15, of Kiryat Gat, whose body was found scorched and handcuffed about two months ago.
According to the indictment, the two men brutally murdered Tagapao after she had asked to sever ties with them.
Location where Tagapao's body was found
Tagapao's body was discovered by two young children who were playing in an open filed at the outskirts of Rahat. Because of the state the body was in, police had a difficulty identifying it at first, but when Tagapao's mother called the police to report of her daughter's disappearance, investigators linked between the two cases.
According to Tagapao's friend, on the day of the murders they both went out to a club in Ashdod. When it was time to go home, Mika found out there was no room for her in the car she arrived with, and she was forced to look for another ride home.
When Abu Mussa and el-Huzeil noticed Tapagao's distress they offered to give her a ride home. Mika, who did not know the two men, was reluctant to get in the car, but eventually agreed as she felt she had no other choice.
Instead of taking her to Kiryat Gat, however, the two defendants drove Mika to a deserted house near Rahat where they bludgeoned her to death and burned her body to prevent her identification.
Tagapao was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to Israel with her mother when she was 11-month old. Her mother, Maria, said she knew her daughter was seeing young Bedouin men and that it concerned her. At a certain point, she said, Mika also felt she needs to cut off the ties with the youngsters.
