Jerusalem: Protesters gathered in several cities after media reports described how men in their 20s queued outside a hotel bedroom where the minor was, awaiting their turn to take advantage of her intoxicated state, the Daily Mail said in a report Friday.
But the owner of the hotel said there was no evidence the suspected assault took place at her establishment, The Times of Israel reported.
The owner told a local TV channel that she handed over all of the Red Sea Hotel’s security camera footage to police and that it does not show any groupings of 30 people.
Meanwhile, two suspects, both 27-year-old, have been arrested according to the police after allegedly threatening to send the video of the incident to the victim.
Authorities are now awaiting the results of a medical examination, while the police has formed a special team to investigate the incident.
The victim had first reported the alleged crime to the police in Eilat last week but the case had previously gone largely unnoticed.
As more information came to light, protests in the big cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Thursday evening prompted Israeli leaders, including the President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to speak out against crimes against women.
“It’s shocking – there’s no other word for it,” the Daily Mail report quoted Netanyahu as saying, adding that all the suspects to be put on trial.
“It’s not only a crime against a young girl, it’s a crime against humanity itself that deserves condemnation from all of us.”
