Israeli police on Monday arrested an ultra-Orthodox rabbi suspected of having enslaved about 50 women, in addition to their young children, in a Jerusalem residential complex.
The police authorities did not reveal the identity of the man, who they say is about sixty years old, but assured that he will remain in preventive detention for the next seven days. The man had already been arrested in 2015 and quickly released for similar suspicions, but new elements favored his arrest, according to a police statement.
"As the investigation progresses, investigators have found evidence in the past two months to suggest that the suspect has absolute control over the lives of approximately 50 people who live in a residential complex and who are all subject at will and isolated from their families, "said the police.
Campaign against domestic violence in ultra-Orthodox communities
The man is a "rabbi" and led a "closed community" in "slavery conditions," another police source told AFP. He is suspected of "miscellaneous crimes against women and their children", some of whom are believed to be under the age of five, she added.
The suspects are being questioned on suspicion of "slavery" and "harassment", police said, adding that 8 women were also arrested on suspicion of having cooperated with this man, established in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. . Women and their children lived crammed into this residential complex serving as a religious "seminary", police officials said.
Police also suspect the man of receiving "full" wages from his alleged victims, while Israeli media also report possible sexual abuse in the case. In mid-November, ultra-Orthodox women launched a vast campaign to combat domestic violence in these communities representing around 10% of the nine million Israelis, often living in isolation, according to their interpretation of the precepts of religion Jewish.
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