African migrant charged with rape of cleaning woman

Sudanese man indicted for allegedly raping woman who was cleaning model apartment; defendant says sexual act was consensual

Naama Cohen-Friedman|Published: 07.07.13 , 12:13

A 30-year-old Sudanese migrant has been charged with raping a cleaning woman in a model apartment at a construction site in Yavne.

An indictment was filed on Sunday with the Lod District Court against Muhmadsli Shahib Hamdi after the complainant, a mother of four, said he had raped her about two weeks ago.

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According to the complainant, Hamdi opened the door of the model apartment for her with a key, and tried to rub up against her while she was opening the kitchen window. The woman signaled with her head that she was not interested and said "what you are doing is not nice."

Hamdi, the indictment said, left the apartment but returned two hours later and entered the bathroom the complainant was cleaning. The defendant told the woman he did not go to lunch with the rest of the workers. "I do not want to eat; I want you," he allegedly said. At this point he allegedly grabbed the woman and dragged her to a bed. The woman screamed, but Hamdi told her the building was empty and that he had locked the elevator.

According to the indictment, the cleaning lady begged Hamdi to stop, but he committed a lewd act against her and raped her.

Hamdi claimed the sexual act was initiated by the cleaning woman and was consensual.

The prosecution claims workers at the construction site testified that they arrived at the model apartment immediately after the rape and saw the woman vomiting and weeping.