Three Palestinians charged with brutal rape of UN worker in capital

Police hunting for fourth suspect.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Three Palestinian teens were indicted Friday in a Jerusalem court for raping and robbing a 59-year-old UNIFIL worker in her northeast Jerusalem home. The three suspects, including two minors, were arrested last month after the woman, who is from a Scandinavian country, filed a police complaint. The identity of the fourth suspect is known and police are looking for him. The suspects, who live in the West Bank and are not connected with the UN institution, allegedly committed the crimes on December 4 after following the woman to her apartment in the Beit Hanina neighborhood. According to the indictment, the suspects scaled a fence between the West Bank and east Jerusalem and broke into the woman's apartment through a window on the roof at about 1 a.m. They found the woman in bed, tied her legs and hands at knife-point, and strangled her with their hands, the charge sheet says. Over the next two hours, they raped and sodomized her one after the other, according to the indictment. As each suspect took his turn, the other three ate, drank and watched TV in her living room and looked for valuables, the indictment recounts. Two hours later, the four left the apartment with stolen goods, the indictment states. During the arraignment, the state asked the Jerusalem District Court to remand the suspects for the duration of their trial.