Lawyer for 11-year-old victim of group rape: State not taking case seriously
Group of 12- and 13-year-old boys accused of assaulting schoolmate at knife point, recording attack on their phones and sharing it with friends; victim being treated for mental health issues while her alleged rapists were released due to their age
The lawyer for the family of an 11-year-old girl allegedly raped at knife-point by a group of boys some four months ago says the state is not treating the case with the gravity it deserves due to his clients' lack of social status.
According to suspicions, the girl, who lives in central Israel, was attacked by a group of 12- and 13-year-old boys who reportedly attended the same educational institute.
The girl was apparently invited by a friend to play with the boys in an abandoned building near her school. There, the boys allegedly raped her repeatedly at knife-point.
Since then, the boys - who recorded the assault on their phones and shared it with their friends - have been questioned and released due to their age while their alleged victim is receiving treatment at a mental health facility.
Hillel Babayev, the lawyer for the girl's family, accused the state of neglecting the young victim after her attack.
"I've seen everything in my line of work, but a case as serious and shocking and shameful as this I haven't come across," Babayev said.
"The police and the Education Ministry are responsible for the lack of support for the girl and her family. They aren't taking this terrible case seriously because the girl and her family are not wealthy."
The alleged victim told Ynet's sister publication Yedioth Ahronoth that she did not understand why her attackers had not been held responsible for the assault.
"The boys filmed everything on their cell phones, and sent the video to their friends," she said. "I'm angry at them and angry at my friend who left me there alone. I was scared of them and I was scared of the knife that they took out.
"I want them to suffer. They should be punished and not be allowed back to school. It's very had for me. I'm having a really hard time, and I even tried to commit suicide."
She said: "I didn't know what they were planning. They told me that they wanted to play with me, and so I agreed to go with them. I wasn't scared at all. I didn't think they would do anything bad to me or harm me. I think that everything was planned ahead of time. They called me over to an abandoned shelter because they wanted to do bad things to me, even though I didn't agree."
According to Channel 13 television, which first reported on the case, the boys were investigated by the police and then released due to their age. They later returned to school while their victim underwent psychiatric treatment and is apparently experiencing difficulties returning to her normal activities.
The girl's parents said that until they saw the video, their daughter had not told them anything about the attack.
"She was threatened and she was afraid to say anything," her father said. "She feels that it's her fault and she is being allowed to feel like this.
"We are trying to help her, but her condition is very bad. She cries and calls out 'help me.' She doesn't understand why the boys were released, but she is being confined, far from her home. She's post-traumatic, and deeply depressed."
The case file has been sent by the police to the prosecutor's office in central Israel, where a decision on charges will be made in the coming days.
