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Haredi girl in Modiin Illit (Archives)
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Is Modiin Illit concealing girl's rape?

Anonymous complaint to police prompts investigation into alleged rape of five-year-old girl in Modiin Illit, but residents refuse to cooperate with investigators

Judea and Samaria police suspect that a five-year-old girl was raped last week in Modiin Illit, but no one would cooperate with the investigation which is currently at a deadlock.

 

Following reports of medical treatment the girl underwent, police launched an investigation into the circumstances of her injuries, but members of the local haredi medical organization refused to comment, as did other members of the community who were, according to police suspicion, ordered to remain silent on the matter.

 

Neither the child nor the suspect have been located as of yet.

 

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Despite communal lack of cooperation, rumor of the incident started spreading in the town, and according to residents, an anonymous complaint was filed with the police Friday, the Army Radio reported Monday.

 

As a result of the complaint, police started to interrogate key figures in the community, but did not receive much information.

 

Police questioned several residents who were warned they would be charged with obstruction of justice if they fail to cooperate. 

 

According to the few details investigators have managed to gather, it is suspected that sometime in the past two weeks a man approached a five-year-old girl he saw on the street, took her to a warehouse at a nearby synagogue where he abused her for two hours.

 

Despite the dead end in the investigation, police are sparing no efforts in trying to crack the case.

 

Testimonies suggest that the girl was treated by medics and brought to a hospital in central Israel but investigators could not find any evidence to suggest that the girl had indeed been treated at the facility. One of the hospital workers who was questioned denied having treated the child.

 

The deadlock in the investigation raises the possibility that there is no basis to the complaint but the police are determined to see the inquiry through as several of the witnesses provided the same order of events.

 

Meanwhile, some of the settlement's residents questioned the authenticity of the claims while others insisted there is a cover-up. "I was personally instructed to stay quiet," one resident said.

 

Another resident however claimed that the facts of the case increase the likelihood that it is fact an urban legend. "I don't think anything happened. In the bottom line, a story like this would leave a trail and would have had to get to the police."

 

Confusion and shock

A Modiin Illit resident told Ynet: "Everyone is shocked. Some rabbis even discussed it over the weekend… One of them urged us to keep children safe and report anything of the sort.

 

"Nobody wants to protect such criminals," he insisted, "but parents know that in the haredi public the one who will be tarnished by this is the girl. She will not be able to get married and this will ruin her entire future. I have reason to believe that (her parents) took care of her and probably also took her to therapy, but they wouldn’t complain, so everyone who knew about the case simply respected their wishes."

 

The police added that "The investigation is rigorous, but we're running into walls of silence from everyone. We're utilizing all the resources we have in order to trace all those involved. I hope we can do so soon."

 

Itamar Fleishman contributed to this report

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 02.04.13, 21:34
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