Lod parents charged with abuse, neglect of 7-year-old girl

Prosecutors file an indictment against a father and mother after police last month found their 7-year-old daughter tied to a bathtub and showing signs of severe physical abuse.

The indictment includes accusations that the parents washed the girl in boiling water and starved her.

On August 12, police arrived at the girl’s home in the central Israeli city of Lod after receiving complaints from neighbors of persistent crying. As they prepared to break down the door, the suspects arrived from an outing at the beach. The father rushed to the bathroom in an apparent effort to untie his daughter before the officers saw. However, the cops followed him to discover the girl in bad physical shape.

She was tied by her hands, feet and neck to the bathtub with a thick rope that the officers had to use a knife to cut. The girl was taken to a nearby hospital for a medical examination and doctors discovered signs of severe, long-term neglect and abuse. Those included missing toenails and burn marks, according to Hebrew media reports. A search of the house found evidence tying the parents to their daughter’s abuse, police said.

The father, 51, and mother 36, were arrested on the spot and have remained behind bars since.

Hebrew media reported police had discovered that the girl had been born in the West Bank and was smuggled into Israel without any documentation by her Palestinian mother. Both parents are on their second marriage, family members told Hebrew media last month. The father has 15 children — 12 with his first wife and three with his current one. Family members surmised that the girl, who was not known to them, may be the mother’s eldest, born during her first marriage.

A lawyer representing the parents denied they had tied her up, telling Ynet they had left her sleeping in her bed. The lawyer said the parents were claiming that the girl had been tied up by a burglar who also stole valuables from the apartment while they were out.