Indictments against eleven suspects arrested in the Eilat gang rape case were filed Wednesday morning, weeks after the teenage victim filed a police complaint in Ashkelon.
The 11 suspects include two 27-year-old men from northern Israel and nine youths from southern Israel who were staying at the Red Sea Hotel in Eilat last month.
Four of the suspects are accused in the indictments of raping the victim, while the seven others are charged with facilitating the rape by not intervening or reporting the incident.
According to the indictment, the victim, a 16-year-old girl, and her friend had rented a room in Eilat for a summer trip to the south.
While the victim was swimming in the hotel’s pool, one of the 27-year-old suspects tried to make a romantic overture, but the victim rejected him out of hand, telling him he was too old for her, investigators wrote in the indictment.
Despite being rebuffed, the suspect and his friend, the other 27-year-old suspect, waited for the girl after she left with her friend.
Later, when the victim returned while under the influence of alcohol, the two suspects conspired to lead the victim to their room.
While visiting a group of teenage friends, the victim asked to leave the teenage suspects’ room, saying she felt ill and wanted to wash up.
Police say the two adult suspects ambushed the victim in the hotel hallway, with one of the two presenting himself as a medic, offering to help the intoxicated girl.
The suspects then led the victim to room 216, the hotel room set aside for bus drivers to rest in after long drives into Eilat.
Once inside, the two adult suspects took turns raping the girl.
The victim’s friend tried to help her escape, but the two adult suspects prevented the victim from leaving.
Security camera footage showed at least 16 men and teenage boys gathered outside the room where the victim was raped, with at least two of the underage suspects entering the room and taking part in the gang rape.
The whole ordeal lasted for roughly an hour and a half, investigators say.
Some of the participants filmed the rape, and later sent recordings to their friends.
The next day, the two adult suspects contacted the victim, writing her messages on her cell phone.
The victim seemed unaware of what had transpired the day before, asking the men “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
The two responded by describing the previous day’s events, prompting the girl to file a police report, leading to an investigation which included no less than 20 officers probing the incident.