DNA evidence has linked the 21-year-old Palestinian man suspected of subjecting
a young couple to a prolonged rape and sexual assault to the scene of the crime,
senior law enforcement sources confirmed Wednesday.
Police arrested the
West Bank resident in Tel Aviv this week on suspicion of following the couple to
the Gan Ha’ir parking lot, brandishing a knife and forcing them into the parking
lot’s bathroom, where he allegedly forced them to carry out sexual acts on one
another and raped the 17-year-old girl.
The DNA development came as
police were set to hold a lineup to see if the couple could identify the
suspect.
The suspect, from the Nablus area, who cannot be named due to a
media ban, denied raping the girl and said he did not carry out any sexual
offenses.
He has also denied being in possession of a knife. However, the
suspect did say he stole the couple’s cellphones.
Four additional
Palestinians are under arrest on suspicion of assisting the suspect to flee and
hide.
Also on Wednesday, Channel 2 broadcast CCTV footage of the suspect
working at a central Tel Aviv restaurant. The restaurant owner said the suspect
turned up for work on the day after the incident “with red eyes, looking like he
had been up the whole night.”
The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court extended
his custody by nine days on Tuesday. During the remand hearing, it emerged that
the suspect had been thrown out of his parent’s home in the West Bank, and had
no fixed address in Tel Aviv, staying at various homes in the north of the city.