Channels

Attacker's identity unknown
Photo: Liquidlibrary

'Modesty patrol' suspected of spilling acid on teenage girl

Religious tensions at boiling point in Beitar Illite as 14-year-old girl attacked by member of town's 'modesty guard'

A 14-year-old girl from Beitar Illite was taken to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem after an unknown person spilled acid on her face, legs and stomach, causing light burn wounds.

 

Pants Banned
Rabbi Aviner: Women must not wear pants even when alone  / Ynet
One of Religious Zionism's most prominent leaders defines trousers as a 'self-prohibition,' says women 'must dress modestly also when alone and in the dark'
Full story

The act has been attributed to a representative of the so-called 'modesty guard' in this town where religious and secular residents are increasingly at bitter odds.

 

MDA received the call just before midnight on Wednesday and paramedic Dror Eini who arrived on the scene to treat the girl also managed to calm her down enough so she could explain what had happened.

 

Eini told Ynet that “the modesty guards have been threatening her for quite some time.” According to the paramedic the focus of the threats has largely been the victim's 18-year-old sister and some suspect the attacker mistook the younger girl's identity for that of her older sister's.

 

Eini said the teenager was in a difficult emotional state: “She cried the whole way to the hospital, partly because she was in pain but mostly because she was terrified.” According to Eini at the time of her attack the girl had been wearing loose-fitting long pants and a short-sleeved shirt.

 

“If she would have been wearing the same thing in Jerusalem or in Tel Aviv, she would not have stuck out in any way,” he added.

 

An ultra-Orthodox teen from Beitar Illite who is in contact with the girl’s family spoke with her sister who described the incident. According to the boy, the attacker stopped the girl and first asked her for directions. Then, after confirming her surname, he spilled a bottle of acid on her.

 

The girl was released from the hospital on Thursday and the police sent samples of the liquid she was attacked with for analysis.

 

According to the young man, her family is under severe pressure. “What makes the treatment of this case so problematic is the feeling that there is no one to talk to in this city and no one wants to find a solution to this problem.” Fingers are being pointed towards the municipality for failing to treat troubled youths.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.05.08, 18:51
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment