Twins suspected of murdering 7-year-old

Year 2010 opens with gruesome murder: Twenty-year-old twins Naor and Adir Sudmi are suspected of murdering seven-year-old Leon Kalantarov in the southern town of Bnei Ayish.

Police suspect that the Sudmi twins strangled the boy to death after he resisted their attempt to sodomize him.

The Kiryat Gat Magistrate's Court extended the twins' remand by a week on Friday afternoon. Their uncle, who arrived at the court, said that the two were "disabled people who don't understand the severity of their actions and are in constant need of treatment and supervision."

During the hearing Defense Attorney Yaron Forer said his clients have denied the allegations against them.

The young boy went missing on Thursday afternoon, and after searching for him for hours, police officers arrived at the twins' house who refused to open their bedroom door.

One of the policemen busted the door open and noticed the two sitting on a bed next to the boy's body. Neighbors said that they had suspected the two, who are known to suffer mental conditions, to have been involved in pedophilia in the past.

After more police officers arrived at the scene, the boy's father, who heard screams, rushed to the site and cried, "Let me in, what happened to my boy?" but was stopped by the officers.

"It was a terrible site. The policemen held the father who kept begging to know what happened to his son. When they told him what happened he collapsed," one of the neighbors related.

Southern District Police Chief Major-General Yohanan Danino said that the police are doing everything in their power to solve the tragic case as soon as possible. Police are still looking into a possibility that the suspects sexually abused the boy before murdering him

Police complaint previously filed

Since Leon Kalantarov has been known to be missing thousands of Bnei Ayish residents, including teachers, students, parents, neighbors and friends have been participating in searches for him.

The bitter news of his death struck them with shock and many children burst out weeping. Many residents formed a crowd in the street upon hearing of the news of the discovered body.

The community's residents said that they have long known about the twins' abuse of children and claimed to have filed a police complaint at least once. 

"I myself warned my kids not to go near those two who always seemed dangerous to me," one woman said.

Police sources said Friday that they are investigating a complaint regarding the two which was filed several months ago.

Bnei Ayish residents told the police that in one of the incidents one of the brothers exposed himself to a group of children and in others children said they were groped by the twins. Police sources noted that the investigation was made difficult by the fact that the two suspects suffer from many mental problems.

"The community was awakened to a particularly sad Friday," Mark Basin, head of the Bnei Ayish Council said. "The mood is very tense. The boy's friends also looked for him and got the bitter news.