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The Southern District Prosecutor's Office has filed with the Be'er Sheva District Court an indictment against Dorit Ben Atar (57) and Rinat Varsulkar (62), both of Yerucham, charging them with assaulting children in their charge during their work in a daycare center.

Ben Atar and Varsulkar, both assistants in a daycare center, are accused of abusing and assaulting the children in the nursery in at least 89 different incidents.

According to the indictment, the pair worked as assistants in the nursery class of the daycare center, where at least 18 infants between the ages of 13 and 23 months were cared for. Ben Atar worked in the center every day, while Varsulkar worked only part-time.

Both of them, while they were responsible for the children, on a daily basis, and sometimes even multiple times on a given day, assaulted the toddlers repeatedly. So, for example, the accused slammed the children to the floor, chairs, or crib, lifted the children by one one by the child's hands, and dragged them the whole length of the room or yard. They roughly lifted the toddlers and moved them even when they were sleeping and slammed them onto mattresses, dragged toddlers behind them, sat them up forcefully on a chair, and more.

Additionally, as a means of punishment, Ben Atar was accustomed to slamming babies between her legs and restraining them so as to prevent them from moving, or leaving them in the crib. Not just once and for long periods of time, while Varsulkar force-fed an infant.

The accused, who where responsible for the health and safety of the young children under their care, instead of seeing to their needs, regularly were violent towards the children, and took advantage of the fact that those under their care where young and incapable of defending themselves. They comported themselves in the daycare with force and violence, with absolute disregard to the pain inflicted on the children through their actions. They lifted, dragged, and slammed the toddlers many times, as if they were objects and not people with feelings and emotions who should be handled with respect and not caused pain.

Aside from the pain and suffering which was caused by the actions of the accused, some of the children developed sleeping difficulties, violent and forceful responses, and more.

A total of 22 counts of abusing a minor or helpless individual are being attributed to the assistants. Additionally, at least 89 counts of assault on a minor or helpless individual by a responsible party are being attributed to Ben Atar; at least 18 counts of assaulting a minor or helpless individual by a responsible party are attributed to Varsulkar.