Pregnant girl freed from basement captivity after a week

The court ruled Monday that three suspects were to be held in custody for the imprisonment of a pregnant 18 year-old. The girl was released Monday morning after being held in a Shfaram basement for over a week, apparently for refusing to undergo an abortion.

After being held in a windowless cellar for the past week, the girl managed to call the police. The owner of the building, the girl’s boyfriend and another person involved were arrested. A gag order was issued by the court regarding further details of those involved.

Local police chief Rami Naimark told Army Radio the girl was fed and not physically abused during her captivity. She was seen by a medical team after being released and was to be taken care of by the welfare authorities.

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The story started two months ago, when the young woman from the south of the country moved in with a 20-year-old man from the northern town of Shfaram. After finding out the teenager was expecting a baby the man demanded she terminate her pregnancy, but she refused.

Following the girl’s refusal to undergo the abortion, the man — along with two of his friends — imprisoned her in a basement owned by one of the friends. According to Naimark, the boyfriend and his friends warned her they would perform an abortion on her by force if she didn’t agree to go to a clinic.

Late Sunday night the girl managed to take the cellphone from the owner of the basement while he brought her food. She called the police department in Beersheba, which forwarded the message to the Shfaram police, who got the basement’s owner on the phone.

After a short negotiation, he agreed to drop the girl off at a large junction in town, where she was picked up by a police car. Shortly after, authorities arrested the boyfriend, the owner of the home and another friend suspected of involvement.