Indictment: Man bludgeoned sister to death and torched her

Ranin Rahel took out a restraining order against her brother, who was from that point wanted for questioning by police.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: FEBRUARY 15, 2016 00:49
Crime scene (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Crime scene (illustrative)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
A 22-year-old man from Beit Zarzir bludgeoned his sister to death with a hammer and then doused her in gasoline and torched her body, because he was angry about the independent life she led, according to an indictment issued on Sunday.
The indictment presented in the Nazareth District Court against Hussein Yousef Rahel presents a harrowing breakdown of a campaign of terror he allegedly waged against his teenage sister Ranin Rahel until he allegedly murdered her on January 12 in an orchard near Kibbutz Hanaton in the Western Galilee.
“The defendant decided to murder Ranin Rahel after she left the family home and because of the life she decided to live,” the indictment says.
It details how a few months before her death, last August, Hussein, along with his mother and a sister, tracked down Ranin in Upper Nazareth Illit.
Sitting in his car, Hussein called Ranin to the vehicle, but she fled. Hussein caught up with her in a nearby parking lot, where he ran over her with his car, severely injuring her right foot, the indictment say.
Ranin took out a restraining order against her brother, who was from that point wanted for questioning by police.
In January, Hussein allegedly decided to murder his sister, and had a mutual acquaintance arrange for them to meet at a gas station near Kafr Manda, north of Hanaton. The friend told Hussein that Ranin was in a remote area near Kafr Mishad and they drove there in two cars. When they found Ranin they forced her into the car and made their way to the orchard next to Hanaton.
When they reached the orchard, Hussein “pulled her from the car and began beating her. The entire time Ranin begged for her life and asked him to have mercy on her,” the indictment reads.
He the allegedly grabbed a hammer from the car and hit Ranin in the head 11 times until her skull fractured, at which point he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire.
Ranin died two weeks before her 18th birthday.
Hussein went on the run but was arrested five days later by police in Haifa, when he gave police an assumed name when asked to show identification on a bus.
In court on Sunday, a number of Hussein’s relatives denied the allegations against him.
His alleged accomplices have yet to be indicted in the case.