A worker at a retirement home in southern Israel was charged Tuesday with rape of a 90-year old resident of the facility.
Israel's Southern District Attorney's Office filed an indictment at the Be'er Sheva District Court, accusing the 44-year-old employee at the Beth Halperin retirement home in Ashkelon of raping and injuring the senior citizen in a brutal assault.
The granddaughter of the elderly woman said the 90-year-old has been suffering and "crying, really weeping."
"We never saw her like this before the incident. We saw how scared she was and how much she was hurting. I asked myself why she was shaking every time she was touched? What happened to her?"
The granddaughter is pointing fingers at the retirement home, claiming that they tried to protect their reputation by covering up the assault.
"It didn't cross their mind that this could happen, and they discovered that it happened right under their nose," she said. "I don't know how many times he entered her room, and maybe he assaulted her multiple times, maybe additional women."
The granddaughter became aware of what had happened when the 90-year-old woman was one day evacuated to a nearby hospital. At first, the Beth Halperin staff didn't disclose many details, and summoned the family to come to the retirement home.
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An award displayed at the Beit Halperin facility given for excellence
(Photo: Facebook)
"It sounded like they were trying to protect themselves. We met with the seven senior officials there, they asked us questions and I told them it felt like an attempt to disrupt an investigation.
"It's easy to do such things to my grandma, because she isn't able to talk," she continued. "I mean, there is a camera right above her. The incident was discovered at the hospital, where they found she was bleeding from her genitalia. She underwent surgery in which they identified something very suspicious and they ran tests on her."
The accused rapist has been arrested, and the victim returned to the Beth Halperin care home, where her granddaughter emphasized that she is keeping a close eye on the staff.
The rapist, who was responsible for the health and well-being and of elderly woman, allegedly entered her room and raped her with an object. As a result, the woman suffered an internal rupture. In the morning, the bleeding was discovered by the nursing staff. She was rushed to the hospital, where she underwent surgery and received blood rations.
The indictment attributes offenses of rape and causing serious injury to a helpless person.