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Photo: Gabi Menashe
Officer convicted of raping female soldier
Officer convicted of raping female soldier who served under his command, court rejects claim that the intercourse was consensual. Meanwhile MP's investigate second rape allegation in barracks
The IDF Southern Command Military Court convicted an officer of raping a female soldier who served under his command on Sunday. The court ruled the complainant's version of the incident, which occurred in June 2004, as credible.
The complainant testified that the officer, a second lieutenant, had thrown her down on a mattress, licked her neck, opened her shirt and yelled at her to "shut up" when she tried to speak. The complainant charged that the officer forced her to perform oral sex on him, even after she vomited. The relationship between the two began after the officer propositioned the soldier, who rejected his advances.
The judges noted in their verdict that the complainant sought to distance herself from the officer. "It would seem that the defendant turned the tables on the basic understanding of what constitutes a relationship with members of the opposite sex," wrote the judges, "according to his twisted notions a woman who shows resistance during a sexual act is normal and should be interpreted as courting and not objection on her part."
The defendant denied the allegations, saying that the sexual interaction was consensual. The court disregarded the fact that the complainant only sought to press charges a year after the incident occurred.
The convicted officer will be sentenced in December.
Military Police investigate rape in barracks
The Military Police is also investigating a second rape charge in a base located in the country's south, where a male soldier allegedly forced himself on a female soldier in the girls' barracks.
The incident reportedly occurred in October, when the soldier, who serves in an administrative managerial position, arrived at the complainants' room in the female soldiers' barracks on base. According to the defendants' testimony he came to her room after she requested that he bring her chocolate milk.
According to the charges the defendant lay down on a bed with the complainant by his side. The complainant then fell asleep and some time later was startled awake after realizing that the defendant had begun raping her in her sleep. The defense claims that the soldier did not rape the defendant, who invited him to her bed, but rather that the intercourse was consensual.
The defense claims that prior to the actual intercourse the defendant touched the complainant for some time and she did not resist. A military court will determine later this week whether or not to extend the defendant's arrest.
