Parents accused of raping daughter for over 13 years, causing 2 unwanted pregnancies

Lawyer in case says it is the worst she’s seen in 30-year career; victim: I’ve gone through war and I’m standing on my feet

By ToI Staff 6 September 2022, 10:57 pm Edit
A woman who was allegedly raped by her parents over a period of 13 years speaks to Walla news. (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A woman who was allegedly raped by her parents over a period of 13 years speaks to Walla news. (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Two parents have been accused of raping their daughter for 13 years, causing two pregnancies, according to criminal charges filed on Tuesday in Haifa.

According to the charges, the woman’s father raped and sexually assaulted her from the time she turned 17 in 2003 until 2016, and her mother also participated in the assault after the daughter turned 18.

As a result of the rape, the daughter became pregnant twice. She carried the first pregnancy to term, but the baby died at nine months old as a result of rare genetic defects. She aborted the second pregnancy.

The charges alleged that the parents raped and assaulted their daughter while she was taking care of her sick child, when the daughter was herself hospitalized and when she suffered acute mental distress after her child died.

Police tested the deceased child’s DNA, and found that its father was also its grandfather.

The parents were separately charged with rape, indecent acts and sodomy, and the father was also charged with incestuous sexual offenses.

A lawyer involved in prosecuting the case told Army Radio it was the worst case she had ever handled in her 30-year career.

The plaintiff told Walla news in an interview: “I am doing this first and foremost to get my justice… I know that this is only the beginning of the road,” she said. “Such things should not happen, both when it is within the family and when it is outside the family.”

“I’ve gone through war and I’m standing on my feet and know that this is only the beginning of the journey,” she said.

“My message to other girls is not to give up and despair, even if the investigations are difficult and you are afraid of the person who did this to you. Take courage and initiative.”

Criticism emerged over the time it took the case to go to trial.

A commission that reviews complaints against state prosecutors noted the case took an abnormally long time to go to trial, with over three and a half years passing between the time prosecutors received the case until charges were filed.

The Ombudsman of the State Representatives in the Courts said officials had cited case complications, the caseload faced by prosecutors and COVID-related postponements, but warned the delays “could cause significant damage to the legal process, as well as the appearance of the justice system and the public’s trust in the law enforcement authorities.”

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