Suspected double murder: 2 young girls found dead in Bedouin village

Bodies of girls aged 3, 5 found lifeless in Al Furah, bearing signs of violence on torso, strangling around neck. Police investigate possibility of family involvement; five suspects arrested

Ilana Curiel|Last update: 05.22.13 , 09:07

Suspected double murder in northern Negev: The bodies of two girls, aged three and five, were found in a house in the Bedouin village of Al Furah near the southern city of Arad Tuesday.

Five suspects were arrested Tuesday night. The suspects, relatives of the girls, are currently being questioned. The girls’ mother has been located and is in questioning as well. A search for the father is underway.

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Police forces arrived at the unrecognized village together with Arad Police Chief Superintendent Yonni Zeitek. The two girls were found in their beds, bearing signs of violence on their torsos.

Rescue personnel who first entered the house found the two girls lying lifeless in their beds and were forced to pronounce them dead at the scene.

Police interrogated those who were present in the residence during the hours preceding their deaths, and also questioned a number of family members, due to the suspicion that a relative was involved in the girls' death.

The bodies' of both girls bore signs of strangulation, apparently with the use of a cord.

Prior to their discovery, MDA paramedics received an alert regarding two unconscious girls, and, as previously stated, were forced to declare them dead upon arriving on the scene.

An MDA source said that "it was a horrifying sight, especially because the girls were so young. Just finding their bodies and declaring them dead was a traumatic experience for the entire MDA crew."

The investigation into their deaths will be headed by the police's Negev Central Investigation Unit.

In October 2012, an indictment was filed against Ikhlas Alarjan from Rahat for the murder of three of her children, aged seven, five, and one, as well as the attempted murder of her three-year-old daughter.

After undergoing a psychiatric examination, the mother was deemed fit to stand trial for the murders she allegedly perpetrated a month prior to her mental examination.