A man was charged on Sunday with kidnapping his sister and attempting to burn her to death. His brother is also a suspect in the case, but police have not been able to locate and arrest him.
According to the indictment, the two brothers from southern Israel forced the woman into the trunk of a car. They drove their sister to a cave where they put her down on wooden boards and poured gasoline on her for the purpose of setting her on fire because they were dissatisfied with her lifestyle.
The defendant is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping for the purpose of murder, false imprisonment, threats and use of a motor vehicle to commit a crime.
The brothers, both in their twenties, kidnapped their sister from their mother’s house last month. After taking her to the cave, they told her that they intended to kill her either by setting fire to her or with a knife.
The woman had told her mother the day before that she was coming to visit, so they knew she would be there. She arrived at the house late in the morning and decided to take a shower; meanwhile, her mother left the house. When she got out of the shower, the brothers attacked her and threw her on the floor.
The woman told police that the brother who escaped put his knee on her neck and both men threatened to kill her right there and then if she screamed. Then they tied her hands and feet, covered her with a blanket and put her in the trunk. They also loaded boards, a can of gas and other equipment into the car.
When she arrived at the cave, she asked them not to burn her alive, and they agreed to stun her until she lost consciousness. She swallowed 30-35 pills but remained conscious. The accused then demanded that she cut herself, it was stated in the indictment. Then he made her drink gasoline.
Meanwhile, the other brother drove home to pick up his sister’s cell phone. When he returned, he demanded that she give him the code to unlock the phone. Both brothers then left the cave to test the phone.
When they returned, they ordered their sister to lie down on the boards and then soaked her and the boards in gasoline. At the time, the indictment said, “The plaintiff cried, and the defendant cried with her and hugged her.”
They then heard noises outside the cave, and the defendant ordered his sister not to move or make a sound. Three other residents in the area arrived and started arguing with the brothers, and during the quarrel, the woman fled to one of the other men’s cars while screaming that her brothers were trying to kill her.
One of the rescuers brought the woman to her home and called police. She was then taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, where medical staff found marks on her skin, where she had been bound and incised on her hands.
All three siblings lived with their mother until about a year ago, but the sister then moved to Be’er Sheva. Even before she left home, her brothers and mother had condemned her lifestyle, and she said they often beat her, threatened her, hauled her and prevented her from using her cell phone.
