Police searching for a third suspect believed to have taken part in sexual assault in Jaffa earlier this month
Police officers have arrested a Palestinian man and a teenager suspected of gang-raping a mentally and physically handicapped Israeli woman in Jaffa earlier this month, an official said Wednesday.
A third man, an Israeli citizen, is also believed to have been involved in the sexual assault and remains at large. The investigation is “still ongoing,” a police spokesperson said.
The men are believed to have raped the disabled young woman and abused her, urinating and spitting on her, and shouting racial epithets during the attack. One of the suspects, Imad Aldin Draghmah, allegedly filmed the brutal assault, the Walla news site reported.
The two Palestinians who have been arrested were originally from the West Bank but had been renting an apartment in Tel Aviv, a police spokesperson told The Times of Israel.
The Palestinian man had a legal permit to live in Tel Aviv, while the minor was doing so illegally, the official said.
Police were still investigating the motivation behind the attack, including the possibility that it was committed for “nationalistic motives,” a spokesperson said.
Due to the victim’s physical and mental disabilities, police said they are treating the case with increased sensitivity and “caution.”
Out of the same consideration, police maintained a gag order on the suspected rape, which was partially lifted on Wednesday.
The Palestinian man will remain in jail until at least Monday, according to a Tel Aviv court order .
Because the second suspect is underage, his case is being handled by the Tel Aviv juvenile court. He will also be detained until Monday, police said.
As reported by The Times of Israel