Eilat rapists ringleader, right-hand man sentenced to double-digit prison time

Three and a half years ago, Sarit, then 16 years old, was gang raped by numerous young men in a case that shook the country. On Monday, the Beersheba District Court, in a closed-door hearing, sentenced Isi Rafilov, 27, and Ilizir Meirov, 26, to double-digit years in prison for their crimes.

“[Meirov] tricked her [Sarit] into thinking he could help her and led her to the room. Into that room, they went, and all morality and humanity remained outside the door. Her body was desecrated. [The others] chose to go in knowing what she had endured, and not only did they not stop it, they joined in, laughing, each one adding more fuel to the fire. Their hearts were hardened, and no one took pity on her,” reads the verdict.

Rafilov, the rape ringleader, was convicted on two counts of rape, two counts of aiding to rape, indecent acts and invasion of privacy. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison with a fine of NIS 200,000. Meirov was convicted of rape and gang rape. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a fine of NIS 100,000.

The night of the rape

On the night of the rape, the girl went to a party at one of the hotel rooms with her friends. She drank too much alcohol and became severely intoxicated. Her friend attempted to help her to a bathroom in another room, but she collapsed to the floor.

Rafilov and Meirov encountered the victim and her friend and lied by saying that he was trained in first aid and could help her. He convinced her friend to bring the victim to the room that he had broken into and then told the friend to fetch the teen water and other supplies from a nearby kiosk. When the friend was afraid to leave the victim alone, he assured her she had nothing to worry about because he had a sister the same age as the victim.

Shortly after she left, Rafilov stripped her of her clothes and raped her at least twice. When the victim’s friend returned she panicked and tried to extract the inebriated friend several times to no avail. Rafilov then called in Meirov to rape the girl. When he engaged in the act, Rafilov filmed him without his knowledge.

One of the defendants passed by, saw the incident unfolding, and called others to come see. Most of those that came, teenagers, cheered the rape. Rafilov came out to talk to them and invited them to rape her as well.

Twin 17-year-old brothers entered the room with their friend, 19-year-old Noga resident Osher Salma. The twins took turns raping the victim, while Salma observed the event. While the indictment didn’t charge Salma with aiding the rape, the court decided to add the conviction since he was in the room, aiding in the permissive atmosphere.

The other six defendants had not only failed to intervene but observed and encouraged the others’ actions. The court said that watching the rape itself was an obscene act. The accolades that the rapists received from their peers led the judges to compare the events in the room to “Sodom and Gomorrah.” If there was only one “righteous man in Sodom,” many of the acts could have been stopped.

Altogether, 11 were found guilty of multiple counts of rape or sexual offenses in September, after being indicted nearly three years ago.

“This is one of the more horrific things this court has seen: An act carried out in a complete lack of morality, decency, and humanity,” said the court on Monday.

It expounded on the “symbiotic relationship” between the two men: Rafilov was with Meirov the entire time, throughout all of the crimes. “He was his right-hand man,” the court said.

In September, 11 men and teenagers were found guilty of multiple counts of rape.

“They did not show empathy to the victim, who is scarred for the rest of her life,” said the court.

Michael Starr and Tamar Uriel-Beeri contributed to this report.