Police are investigating the alleged rape two weeks ago of a five-year-old girl
in the haredi settlement of Modi’in Illit.
It is believed that the girl
was on her way to kindergarten when a haredi youth grabbed her and took her to
an unknown location close by, possibly a storage room or an empty community
building, where he raped and abused her. He then released the girl, who arrived
at her kindergarten bruised and injured.
The kindergarten teachers
contacted the girl’s parents to tell them to pick her up.
She was
subsequently taken to the hospital.
It appears that community leaders
have been attempting to cover up the incident and are pressuring people not to
cooperate with the investigation. Neither the parents nor anyone else involved
reported it, and residents are reluctant to speak to the police or
media.
Army Radio, which first reported the allegations, said police were
finally contacted last Friday via an anonymous text
message.
Investigators went to the hospital where the child was said to
have been treated.
They have been unable to see the girl due to
objections by the family.
Police officers from the Judea and Samaria
District also went to the kindergarten in question, but no one there was
prepared to cooperate.
A Modi’in Illit resident whose child attends the
same kindergarten said on Channel 2 that management was involved in the
cover-up, specifically accusing the director of the kindergarten association.