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Arab suspected of 7 sexual assaults

Police arrest Qalqilya resident suspected of mugging, sexually assaulting seven women near Raanana. 'His eyes were full of hatred,' victim says

The police arrested Muhammad Soilam, 27, a resident of the West Bank city of Qalqilya, for allegedly assaulting seven Israeli women over the past few weeks.

 

The attacks reportedly took place under the Raanana-North overpass. Tuesday saw Soilam deny all the allegations against him. An indictment will be filed against him later this week and authorities are planning to seek his remand pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him.

 

"He laid on top of me and held his fist to my face. His eyes were full of hatred and he gritted 'shut up' with an Arab accent. I was sure he was going to kill me," 21-year-old S. recounted the horror-filled moments of her attack.

 

According to S. she was on her way home from work when she was attacked. "I go under that bridge every night on my way home. That night, I noticed a man standing under the bridge, holding a bicycle. I froze. Who stands under a bridge at night?

 

"I just couldn't move. He came up to me, slammed me into the wall and demanded I empty my purse and a bag I was carrying." S. said she remembered having pepper spray in her purse, but she couldn’t get to it.

 

"(…) I told him to take whatever he wants, but he knocked me down and tried to rape me. I really though he was going to kill me, but something suddenly distracted him and he got up, got on his bike and fled."

 

The reason for the suspect's escape turned out to be a passerby. S. said he attempted to help her, but said she was shocked and distraught and ran away. "I called my father and my boyfriend and they contacted the police, who arrived immediately.

 

"I gave them a full description. I remember everything – his face, his clothes, his shoes. The look of complete hatred during the attack. It wasn’t long after that that the police said they arrested him based on my description."

 

S.' assault turned out to be the seventh in a series of muggings and sexual assaults, all perpetrated at the same location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.06.10, 00:34
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