BREAKING NEWS

State indicts Eritrean refugee for murder, rape of 12-year-old girl

Tesfatsion, the former partner of Tsegai's mother, was the chief suspect in the case since the girl's grisly murder.

DECEMBER 27, 2018 11:44

Updated: DECEMBER 27, 2018 14:07

Tel Aviv prosecutors indicted Eritrean citizen Tesfabran Tesfatsion Thursday for the November rape and murder of 12-year-old girl Sylvana Tsegai.

Tesfatsion, the former partner of Tsegai's mother, was the chief suspect in the case since the girl's grisly murder.

While police originally claimed that Tsegai had not filed any complaints prior to her murder, a police spokesperson subsequently confirmed that several days prior to her death she called to complain about Tesfatsion, who had come to the apartment to collect his belongings.

“Both in that complaint and after being questioned by officers about him, the girl stated that he never used violence against her in any way,” the statement said.

In the wake of the murders of Tsegai and 16-year-old Yara Ayoub the same day, women went on strike across Israel to protest violence.

“The cries of women are buried under the silence of the government, which refuses to take responsibility and change the situation,” read a call to protest by strike organizers.

“Time after time they bury programs, ignore the victims and leave half of the population unsafe. We are in a state of emergency, this is the time, if we do not wake up now, we will never wake up.”