Police report serial rapists in Karmiel, Israel

By JPost Staff
Jerusalem Post
October 25, 2006

After comparing the stories of three young women who were brutally abducted and raped in Karmiel this past year, local police announced Wednesday that they suspected a gang of serial rapists has been operating in the area.

According to reports on Channels 1 and 10, a 21-year-old security guard who had been working in Israel's central region returned to Karmiel for a visit last week. She told police that a white car pulled up alongside her one evening as she was walking alone. She was then forced inside and, as the car headed out of the city, two of its three Arab occupants assaulted her.

After reaching a forest outside of Karmiel proper, all three proceeded to rape her repeatedly over the course of several hours, she said.

The suspects then drove her back to the city and dropped her off at the same spot where she had been seized.

The woman, who was hospitalized for several days with injuries that necessitated several operations, was unable to provide police with any additional identifying details about her attackers.

The method of the attack matches gang rapes described by two other women, both of whom were forced into cars, driven to a forest near Shfaram and brutalized.

No further details about the rapists were available, and no composite sketch has yet been released. In the meantime, police recommend that women in Karmiel avoid walking alone at night and have asked anyone with information to come forward.